Balance- A Pokémon Ruby Nuzlocke
by Scoobydoohan
Summary: A young boy playing in the forest discovers a book hidden away from the world. Inside he finds the tale of Eris, a young boy with a tormented past setting out on his first Pokémon League Challenge. Afflicted with a mysterious illness and meeting a strange organisation that wishes to rule the world, Eris will have to face his past before he can conquer the present.
1. Prologue

_**A/N:**_ _Hello everyone and welcome to my first proper story. Feel free to leave any constructive criticism you feel would help be a better author and I hope that you enjoy the first tale of many in Eris' life. ____Disclaimer- I do not Pokémon in any way. Nintendo and Gamefreak own those rights. I do however own Eris and any other characters present in this story that aren't in the games.__**  
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**2100: Viridian Forest**

The sun hangs high in the sky as a group of five boys play merrily around the trees of the forest. They hide in the shadows and squeal with delight when they're found. One of the boys is hidden beneath a large patch of leaves, keeping very still as to not get caught. He hears his mother's voice calling to him from the edge of the woods and his face drops. He stands, the leaves cascading off of his shoulders and making a tremendous noise that instantly alerts his friends to his location. They come rushing towards him and he steps into a pool of sunlight that has pierced the leafy canopy. The light seems to blend into his blonde hair just as his eyes seem to be made of the bark that surrounds him. He bids farewell to his friends and sets off in the direction of his mother's voice, his friends turning away to continue their merriment. However, when the boy steps into a patch of shadow the ground falls away beneath his feet and he tumbles down an earthen slide into a small chamber under a great tree. A hole has been bored through the centre of the tree to allow light into the chamber and illuminate the rough walls and the strange altar that sits in the centre. The boy approaches the altar and finds sitting in a depression a large metal capsule. He reaches out and grabs hold of the capsule, but it refuses to budge from the altar. Running his fingers over the smooth metal he finds a latch and releases it. Inside the capsule lies a large leather bound book. Heaving it out the boy sits on the floor and opens it, beginning to read.

_To whoever finds this diary, I leave it in the hopes that you do not fall prey to that which I did in my life. It is both a dangerous and important piece of literature and contains within the entirety of my journeys through the various regions of the world, facing danger and adventure with my Pokémon by my side. Now though I am but a shell of the man I once was, powers I know little of having wrought havoc upon my body over the years. The Pokémon I once played with and faced my deepest fears with have begun to retreat from human control and return to the wilds. Unfortunately for me, and perhaps now you, It is everlasting and watches from the shadows of everywhere and everywhen. I fear that if the Pokémon have not returned to you by the time you are reading this, It will rise again and consume everything with its wrath. This is the primary reason I leave this diary behind. A person cannot face an enemy of which they have no knowledge, and so I implore you to start at the beginning and learn all you can. A friend of mine has imbued the pages with their power, allowing you to view the events first hand/ Be warned though. My curse may linger on in these pages and it may call It to you. The more you read the more danger you put yourself in. If you do not wish for a terrible fate close this book and flee the lands where you found it. Eris Doohan- Creator of Discord, Slayer of Men._

The boy's eyes widen at the last line and he starts to close the book, but natural curiosity wins out and he turns to the next page where emblazoned in the centre of the page is a single word.

**BALANCE**


	2. Chapter 1: Part 1- A Journey Begins

_**A/N: **__Disclaimer- I do not Pokémon in any way. Nintendo and Gamefreak own those rights. I do however own Eris and any other characters present in this story that aren't in the games._

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CHAPTER 1: A JOURNEY BEGINS

*****Beep, Beep, Beep*. An alarm clock incessantly begins to beep in the corner of the room of a quaint forest home. A slightly tanned hand reached out from under the covers and slapped the top of it, stopping the annoying noise. The owner of the hand fully emerged soon afterwards and padded over to the nearby wardrobe, opening the door to reveal rows of identical black trench-coats, shirts and trousers. He reached in, pulled out one set and swiftly donned the clothing. He turned towards the mirror to sort out the mop of hair that sat atop his head before heading downstairs. This is Eris Doohan, thirteen years old and tall for his age at around 5'7". The blond streaks in his hair from the summer sun were just beginning to leave and were being replaced with much darker browns, almost black in colouration. His nose was simply that. A nose. If someone tried to describe it they would have great difficulty in separating it from anyone else's nose although it had the appearance of being broken a few times, but expertly reset. The most striking feature though was his eyes, his two different colour eyes of blue and green flecked with grey. They were thin and sharp like a hawk's; seeming to pierce whoever they looked at, yet also deep set, haunted by past experience and a lack of sleep. However, looking deep into those same eyes revealed a youthful and vengeful fire that burnt with an unknown hatred as well as a strange, almost unwelcome or uneasy kindness. He turned away from the mirror and went downstairs.

XXXXXX

"Sir, the latest progress report has come in from Tabitha. I have good news and bad news."  
"You know how much I loathe bad news Igneous. It is fortunate that you are one of the favoured. Give it to me."  
"Tabitha has managed to infiltrate the Devon Corporation and is now one of their head scientists. She's informed us that a courier with some important parts that Devon Corp needs will be coming through Petalburg Woods in a couple of weeks. She believes that we could re-purpose them for our machine"  
"And the bad news?"  
"Devon Corp has advanced construction of their submarine by 20% and is closer to uncovering the entrance to the cavern. Tabitha says that they'll have broken through within two months."  
"Get a Grunt to ambush the courier. Make sure it looks like a random mugging. As for the submarine, we'll simply have to delay its departure when the time comes. We can ignore the cavern for the time being. In other news, when will our challenger start?"  
"There has been no word from them recently, though their last report signified that they had succeeded in phase one of the operation."  
"Very well. Report back when you have more information Igneous. For the land!"  
"For the land!"

XXXXXX

"Yes Dad I locked the house up. Mum should be back soon anyway so it shouldn't that much of a problem. Also, we live in the middle of the woods and we know everyone around here. None of them are going to steal anything. No, I can't find Birch. Sorry, _Professor _Birch. Look, I'm going to head to Oldale Town and see if he's there somewhere. Yes I'll be fine. I'll visit when I get to Petalburg okay? Good. Bye." "Urgh, Birch better be in Oldale or I'm going to have some serious words with him." Eris turned away from the house, his trench-coat flowing slightly in the gentle wind that blew through Littleroot Town. He hoisted his solid black backpack onto his shoulders and set off at a slow jog to Rt.101. Suddenly a scream emanated from somewhere nearby in the forest, Eris turned and began to sprint towards it.

Arriving in a small clearing he noticed a battered briefcase lying on the ground, one latch broken and twisted so that the case is held slightly open. A few yards away a pack of Poochyenas were snarling up a tree, where Professor Birch sat on a high branch quivering with fear. Much of the Poochyenas' fur was matted with mud and being four feet tall on all fours with bared teeth they presented a terrifying sight. One however was slightly larger at four and a half feet tall and it stood at the base of the tree, scratching menacingly at the bark, one eye closed by a vivid scar. Eris sprinted forward and snatched the briefcase off of the floor, causing it to open fully and three Pokéballs to fall out. Two of them clatter to the ground, the names Roxy and Rick clearly inscribed onto their fronts. The third though opens as it falls and a Mudkip, small in stature at only 3 feet tall, jumped out. Eris knelt down and picked up the Pokéball, reading the name Alexander inscribed on it. He looked at the Mudkip and it nodded to him after smelling the air. Eris smiled and nodded back "You know what to do right? Take out the leader and the rest will flee."  
"Sure thing boss. Just get me in close."  
Eris picked up Alexander and carefully aimed at the pack before hurling the small Pokémon at the tree. Alexander, turning in mid-air, kicked out at the tree and head-butted the back of the large Poochyena. When he landed the leader charged and knocked Alexander back.

"Alexander, get under him and charge into the stomach!" Eris shouted at the small Pokémon. He nodded in reply and readied himself for the Poochyena's next attack. The Poochyena, filled with rage that such a diminutive Pokémon would dare attack it, charged at Alexander, who simply smirked and slid between its paws. The Poochyena's muzzle became a look of surprise before Alexander powered up off the floor and smashed his entire bodyweight into the underside of the wolf Pokémon. It tried to take a few faltering steps forwards before falling to the ground, whimpering in pain. Eris stepped forwards and grasped its neck, before twisting sharply to the right. An audible crack could be heard throughout the forest and a small scream came from the almost silent professor sitting in the tree. The rest of the pack howled mournfully at the loss of their leader before retreating back into the forest. Alexander's face was incredulous at this action, but Eris simply recalled the small Pokémon into its ball and began to climb the tree towards the gibbering professor.  
"Y-y-you just k-killed it. W-w-why?" he manages to howl between the tears of fear still streaming down his face.

"I had to show the pack who was the dominant one Prof." Eris replied, his face impassive "Now come on, get out of this damn tree". Eris jumped to the ground and scooped up the other two Pokéballs; Birch following slowly down the trunk soon after. They began the short walk back to Route 101; Birch's shakes and looks at fear subsiding the nearer they got to Littleroot Town. Eris turned to Birch once they got back to the lab and reached into his pocket, producing the three Pokéballs and offering them back to the Professor. He took two, but left Alexander's Pokéball in Eris' outstretched hand. "He's always been a bit too mild. Maybe you can put some fight in him. Anyway, I don't think it's the best idea to leave him given your condition. Who knows what'll happen?"  
"Hmm. I guess your right Prof. You know, I might just challenge the League. Unlike most people in this region I didn't get that chance. And I get to see how good my father really is." Eris replied, deep in thought "I'll do it. It'll be… fun."

"Wonderful" Professor Birch boomed, his normal joviality having returned "I'm sure you'll excel, especially with your parents' blood!"  
"I don't judge people by their parents' actions, but by their own. You should too Professor. I'm going to grab my gear and then I'll be off." Eris stated before walking back to his house, emerging a few minutes later with a substantially weightier backpack than he had when he entered and turned away up the route. Birch watched the boy leave before sighing to himself and extracting a radio from inside his lab coat. "The Slayer's just left. Release the Queen and ready the King for arrival" he said into the transmitter. Without waiting for an answer he returned the radio to his pocket before speaking quietly to himself "I just hope this is over with quickly."


	3. Chapter 1: Part 2- Oldale Town

_**A/N: **____Disclaimer- I do not Pokémon in any way. Nintendo and Gamefreak own those rights. I do however own Eris and any other characters present in this story that aren't in the games._

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Eris walked along Route 101, rolling Alexander's Pokéball between his hands, seemingly considering whether or not to speak to the Mudkip. Eventually the ball cracked open and the small fish like being emerged. "You seem nervous boss. What's the issue?" the Mudkip asked.  
"I need to tell you something. I have a condition Alexan-"  
"Alex. Just Alex boss."  
"Sure, so long as you call me Eris instead of boss. We work together, as a team. Don't think of me as your boss, think of me as a teammate." Eris replied in kind "Anyway, I have a condition. Nobody knows what caused it or why it causes what it does, but whenever I catch or keep a Pokémon it becomes bound to me. From there it only gets worse. Any Pokémon under my care don't faint. They die. They can barely leave my side unless they're inside their balls. Because of this I keep my catch rate down to a minimum, only one per route I travel. I'm sorry you had to get me as a trainer Alex."  
The pair walked in an uneasy silence from then on, Alex shocked by the information, Eris saddened by the inevitable loss of the journey he'd just embarked on. After a couple of miles Alex broke the silence. "You know bos- Eris, it won't be as bad as you think. I saw what you did to that Poochyena. You're tough, even if you don't know it. We'll make it through this."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Alex. We've gone pretty far today. We better rest for the night. We'll be able to make it into Oldale early tomorrow morning so long as nothing gets in the way" Eris told the small Pokémon that walked alongside him.  
"I think that pack of Poochyena have warned all the Pokémon on this route to stay away from us. Explains why we haven't seen anything, so we should be safe from attack tonight as well" Alex told him.

"Help! Help! Please, someone help me!" a voice cried out from somewhere ahead of the pair.  
"No time for rest Alex. We've got work to do" Eris told his partner before recalling him and running in the direction of the cry. Emerging from the cover of the trees into Oldale Town Eris saw a young man of about 25 being pressed up against the wall of the Pokémart by two thugs wielding knives.  
"No point callin' for 'elp now. 'Ole town's asleep ain't it" one of them sneered at their quarry.  
"Jus' hand over yer stuff an' we won't 'urt ya too much. 'Urry up now, we don't 'ave all night ya know" the second thug told the quivering man, brandishing his knife in the man's face. Eris calmly strode forwards through the shadows until he was right behind the second thug. With the speed of a snake his hand shot and grasped the thug's wrist before twisting it sharply around. The man screamed in pain as his wrist snapped and he fell to his knees, clutching at the ruined joint. The first thug slashed his knife at Eris who simply stepped inside the swing and delivered a swift jab to the solar plexus, dropping the thug more silently than his companion.

Eris scooped up their two knives and stored them inside of his trench-coat to investigate later before turning to the young man. "Did they take anything from you?" Eris questioned sharply.  
"No, nothing. I'm fortunate you were nearby. They could have killed me!" the young man replied "Please, tell me where I can learn to fight like you" he cried.  
Something in Eris' face changed at this request and he snarled at the man "You do _not _want to be like me." The boy relaxed slightly, before growling at the man "If you're not from around here then I recommend staying at the Pokémon Centre for the night. Otherwise just go home. Strike out for Petalburg in the morning. The gym there should run some self-defence classes." Eris turned away from the man and rounded the corner of the Pokémart, wishing to find a bed for himself.

Unfortunately for him a girl blocked his path. The girl's hair was a much lighter brown than Eris' and a great deal longer too. It stuck out on either side of her head, only tamed by the red bandanna she wore. The image on the front of the bandanna was of a white Pokéball. Lower down she wore a bright red jacket with a white strip across the bottom. The warm climate of Hoenn allowed her to show off her legs and she took the opportunity to its fullest. Her sturdy hiking boots looked well-worn and were once again a vivid red. Around her waist was a yellow satchel, from which she produced a Pokéball. "You're quite good with your hands, but I want to know if you're as good with your Pokémon. I can see that you're a Trainer, so c'mon, let's battle" the girl cried enthusiastically. Eris sighed knowing that he wouldn't be able to get any rest until daybreak if he didn't satisfy this girl's wishes, so he produced Alex's Pokéball and called him out. The girl looked amazed at the small Mudkip "Oh wow. You must have been to see Professor Birch. These Pokémon are really rare. This is amazing really. I was just about to send out my Treecko. I thought no one else would have one of its friends." The girl sent out her own Pokémon, a wood gecko creature that stood at four feet tall. Eris yawned while gesturing at Alex to go ahead and attack the being. Alex charged straight at the Treecko and threw his whole body weight into the tackle. The Treecko went flying backwards and hit the ground hard. The girl rushed over to her Pokémon and checked the damage. "You managed to knock her out in just one hit! Your Mudkip has some serious power" the girl commented "I'm May by the way. I think that we should be friends. Then we can be rivals on our journey to complete the League!"

Eris thought the girl, May, was much too excitable for the time of night and became instantly suspicious, though he also thought the lack of sleep he'd been getting was affecting his paranoia and decided to let the matter go. Somehow he found the strength to talk to May "I don't make friends, only enemies. And you don't want to be my enemy. You saw what happened to those thugs." Eris recalled Alex and pushed past May, took two more faltering steps and collapsed to the ground. May looked at the body on the floor and ran off towards the Pokémon Centre, returning a moment later with Nurse Joy. Together they lifted the limp body off of the floor and carried it to the Pokémon Centre and a comfortable bed.


	4. Chapter 1: Part 3- A New Teammate

_**A/N: **____Disclaimer- I do not Pokémon in any way. Nintendo and Gamefreak own those rights. I do however own Eris and any other characters present in this story that aren't in the games._

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"Igneous, why do you bother be at this late hour? I have an important meeting in the morning. Your information better be useful."  
"I would not bother you if it was not Sir. It regards the Slayer."  
"The Slayer you say? Well then, I must say I am intrigued. What have we learnt then Igneous?"  
"The boy has been sleeping poorly recently. It originally didn't seem to affect his battle prowess, but afterwards he collapsed from exhaustion. The Queen also reports that he seemed wary of her. We'll have to make sure he doesn't begin to suspect a link between us."  
"Relax my friend. Currently the boy does not even know we exist. He won't suspect a thing. As for his lack of sleep, we can only hope the effects last until we have to face him. Now, Igneous, leave me. I need to rest"  
"Of course Sir. I wish you all the luck with your meeting tomorrow."

XXXXXX

Eris awoke once again to the dawn light streaming through the windows, first noticing his trench-coat thrown over the back of a nearby chair and then noticing the occupant of the chair. May. It appeared that she'd decided to spend the night watching over him, though eventually sleep had claimed her as well. Eris blinked the sleep out of his eyes and rose quietly, retrieving his trench-coat and slipping out of the room without disturbing the girl. He'd almost made it out the door when he heard a voice call his name. He turned his head and saw Nurse Joy beckoning him over. "Professor Birch sent these for you earlier. He said it was essential you got them as soon as possible" the Nurse said holding out a small parcel. Eris reached inside his jacket and produced one of the knives he'd obtained the previous night, using it to split the parcel open on the desk. Inside is five Pokéballs, a strange machine with a note attached and a couple of Potions. Eris placed the former and latter into their respective pockets in his bag before reading the note.

_Eris, this machine is a Pokédex, modelled on the one created by Professor Oak. I would ask you to use it to help me with my research, but given your condition I don't think it's the best idea. However, it has been updated with all the current information we have on Hoenn Pokemon will be automatically updated whenever we discover something new. I hope it will be of use to you on your journey. - G. Birch._

Eris finished the note picked up the machine, turning it over in his hand before pressing a button on the side of it. The front cover flipped open as the machine engaged and text scrolled up the screen too fast to be read before an interface menu appeared. After flicking through the few options there were available to him, Eris nodded to himself and turned the Pokédex off before pocketing it. Returning the knife on the desk to an inside pocket Eris left the building, fully intending to head for Petalburg as soon as he'd finished up business on Rt.101. The sun was bright even in the early morning, though Eris was used to the intensity and greater heat levels thanks to his upbringing. He pulled out Alex's Pokéball from its specialised pocket and sent out the Mudkip, kneeling to talk to it properly "Alright Alex, Birch has sent me some Pokéballs, so we're going to try and catch something on this route. I already know you have a lot of power, but you'll need to rein it in if we want to get any more team members" Eris told the fish Pokémon.  
"Sure thing. One question though. Last night you said that you don't make friends. Does that mean I'm not your friend Eris?" the Mudkip said in return, a look of worry on its face.  
"Of course we aren't friends Alex." The Mudkip's face fell even more at these words, but Eris had not finished speaking "We're partners. We fight to the end, together, and I wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice myself to make sure you get out alive. You're more than a friend. Much, much more." The Mudkip looked up at his young trainer and saw the fire in his eyes once more, and his face split into a grin at the confidence Eris exuded.

The pair walked a little further until they could see the long grass that sparsely covered the short route between the two towns and turned to each other, coming to an unspoken agreement with a single look. Alex ran into the grass and emerged a few moments later chasing a raccoon-esque Pokémon even smaller than himself. At only two feet tall the quadruped was the smallest creature Eris had ever seen. The small raccoon charged straight at Eris, leaping onto him and scrabbling for purchase on his coat. Eris prised the Pokémon off held it in front of his face, observing it properly for the first time. The zigzag patterns on its fur were constructed of cream and brown, and it felt hard and bristly. The creature yawned and Eris noted the two pointed teeth in its lower jaw. When it was finished he took in the face of the raccoon. The pointed ears were twitching constantly in the direction of Alex, listening for the slightest movement that could be interpreted as another attack. The black mask across its face reminded Eris of a thief's mask and as he pulled a Pokéball out of his coat he decided that would be its name. Thief. The raccoon went willingly into the ball and was eager to investigate its new partner upon re-emergence, snuffling all around Alex to learn as much as possible about him. Eris pulled out his Pokédex in order to learn a little more about his new teammate.

_Zigzagoon- The Tiny Raccoon Pokémon. These Pokémon restlessly wander everywhere they go. They do this because of high natural curiosity and as such it becomes interested in everything it sees. They will rub their backs on trees to mark their territory, and quite often play dead in an attempt to fool predators. They live on average for 5 years and can grow to be around 5 feet tall and 3 feet long. This particular specimen is female._

Eris smiled to himself as he looked over to where Thief was accosting Alex. He recalled them both and went back to Oldale Town in order to reach Route 102. Before he could get there however he was stopped as a golden blur whipped past him, soon followed by a bumbling man carrying a heavy net screaming "Out of the way! Get out of the way! I need to catch that Zigzagoon!"  
Eris raised a quizzical eyebrow at this behaviour and decided to follow the man with the net, while opening his Pokédex and searching for 'Golden Zigzagoon'. The machine quickly provided an answer for him.

_A golden Zigzagoon does not exist. However, there have been documented cases of Zigzagoons having golden fur instead of brown. These Pokémon, and others like them who possess differing colouration to the rest of their species, are known by Pokémon researchers as 'Shiny Pokemon'. Extensive research conducted into their genetic makeup has revealed that a rare mutation in the DNA of a Pokémon can cause its natural colouration to change. Those species that live solitary lives are not affected by this, but any species who display pack or family like behaviour ostracise the mutated Pokémon and leave it to fend for itself. Ancient people believed they had special abilities or powers and they are nowadays highly prized by collectors and hunters, who sell them to the highest bidder._

Eris growled at the last part and increased his speed after the man, easily catching up with him. Pretending to stumble over a nearby tree root Eris went crashing into the man and knocked him to the ground. Brushing dirt off of his coat and trousers, Eris turned to the other man and helped him up much to his displeasure.  
"What do you think you're doing? Now that rare Zigzagoon has got away and I'm never going to catch it" the man complained.  
"I'm so sorry" Eris lied "I was just out jogging and I didn't see that root. I tripped and went into the back of you. Tell you what, if you give me your number I'll keep searching around here and if I catch it I'll give it to you. How about that?"  
"I suppose that would be adequate payment for losing me my prize. Alright, I'll agree to that. But I warn you boy, if you try to double-cross me I'll report you for stealing. What's your name?" the man questioned.  
"Brendan. Brendan Birch" Eris replied. He didn't even know if Birch had a son, let alone one called Brendan. He just hoped the collector didn't know the Professor very well. The collector looked at him a little longer, before seeming to accept the lie, handed him a slip of paper with a number and left the area. Eris breathed a sigh of relief and ventured further up the route. The sun was at its zenith by this point, and Eris was starting to feel the heat. He moved into the shade to avoid the worst of it when he saw it. A flash of gold. He plunged into the trees and began the search for the elusive Zigzagoon.


	5. Chapter 1: Part 4- Route 102

**_A/N:_**_ Hello again everyone. I've implemented a few format changes in previous chapters. The names of the chapters are now slightly different and I've revised some spellings in other chapters. I do my best to ensure there are no mistakes but sometimes they slip through the net. I hope you keep reading and enjoying Balance and don't hesitate to leave a review or PM me if you spot something I've missed or need something explaining in a little more detail. ____Disclaimer- I do not Pokémon in any way. Nintendo and Gamefreak own those rights. I do however own Eris and any other characters present in this story that aren't in the games._

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The sun was beginning to set by the time Eris emerged from the forest, still empty handed. He pulled his sleeping bag out of his pack and readied it on the ground for the night. Just before he climbed in he stood sharply up, knowing what he had to do. He obtained some twigs from within the forest and some rope from his backpack. Obtaining some berries from a nearby tree he created a simple snare and settled down to wait. After a couple of hours and scaring a lot of Pokémon away from his snare, Eris began to grow tired. Forcing himself to stay awake for another hour, he was met only with the rapidly fading light and a growling stomach. Standing to relieve his muscles of the cramp that they'd gained from his long vigil, he began to stretch when a short, sharp snap was heard. His head whirled round to the snare and he was rewarded with the sight of the shiny Zigzagoon inside. Eris reached into his coat and produced Thief's Pokéball, sending her out to weaken the other Zigzagoon. Before Eris was able to issue any orders, the Zigzagoon's thrashing allowed it to break free of the trap and throw its body weight at Thief. Thief, believing the fight to be playful, threw her own body weight back, knocking the shiny Zigzagoon down. Before it could rise Thief attacked it again, pushing it back into the ground, and it could do nothing but growl at Thief. Eris noticed that it was weakened and took the opportunity to throw a Pokéball at it. The Zigzagoon was too weak to even attempt to break free and was quickly trapped within the capsule. Eris checked his Pokédex once again and learnt that his new capture was also female. He elected to name her Aurelia and took her back to the Pokémon Centre to be healed.

The following morning Eris struck out for Route 102 with his three Pokémon by his side. The trail was a long one and would probably take a few days to cross. The group of four stepped out onto the route and began the long walk to Petalburg City, where Norman awaited his son. About 10 miles down the trail Eris' phone rang. "Hello. Who wants me now? Ah, Dad. Yeah, sure, I'm on 102 now. Still a few days away. Probably going to find some other trainers, camp with them for a night or two. Quick question. Have you got my Trainer's Licence? Because I couldn't find it at the house. I know you put me down for one at birth but nothing's turned up recently. Oh they shipped it to you. Well that's great isn't it? Can you get a courier to bring it down to me? Uh huh. Short kid, green hair, timid with a Zigzagoon. Got it. Wait, you want me to do what? Is he really that bad? Wow, fuck, okay then. I'll do what I can. I'll er, see you in a couple days then. See ya." Eris hung up and returned the phone to his breast pocket before turning to his Pokémon "Alright guys, we're going to have to find some Trainers, probably beat them in a battle if we want to camp with them. Alex, bring Thief and Aurelia up to speed on how things work around here. You two listen closely to Alex, it's important. I'm going to see if I can find anyone willing to take us in for a couple of days." The group continued along the path, Eris constantly alert for any sign of other Trainer's, Alex informing Aurelia and Thief on the dangers of their new life. Alex finished explaining pretty quickly, so Eris told him and the Zigzagoons to fight some wild Pokémon to get some experience, but not stray too far. Before they could though Eris stopped abruptly and turned towards the treeline. A Youngster stood just in the shade, a Pokéball clutched in his right hand.

Eris called out to him "Hey, kid, you got a camp set up nearby?"  
"So what if I do. What's it to you?" the kid sneered back "I doubt you could even defeat me, and I'm the weakest of us."  
"Alright kid, you think you're so good then battle me. If I win you let me into your camp." Eris shot back.  
"And what if I win?" the Youngster asked "What do I get?"  
"If you win you won't have to deal with me anymore. And I'll pay you. Sound good?"  
"Sure thing. This is gonna be easy" the Youngster replied "I've only got one Pokemon, my Zigzagoon, so you'll have to use only one."  
Eris looked over to his three Pokémon, thinking which one he should use. He thought Alex was the obvious choice, but decided to match the Youngster and selected Thief to fight his Zigzagoon with.  
"Thief, don't give him a chance! Charge!" Eris cried. The small raccoon enthusiastically followed the order, running at a terrific speed towards the Youngster's Pokémon who was knocked backwards.  
"Grr. Ziggy, use Tail Whip. Lower his defence for a big attack" the Youngster cried at his Zigzagoon. It spun around and waved its tail at Thief. Thinking it to be a playful gesture, Thief barked back and was unprepared for the tackle that quickly followed. Thief somersaulted back from the force of the attack and came to a stop at Eris' feet.  
"Come on Thief. We've got to win this. Run straight at that Zigzagoon while growling at it. Try to scare it before hitting it hard." Eris told the small Pokémon lying at his feet. It rose to all fours and shook itself off. She opened her mouth, bared her teeth and growled low in her throat before rushing at her opponent. It whimpered at the sight of Thief charging at it and was unprepared for the head-butt that Thief delivered, sending it crashing to the ground. It tried to rise but was too weak to do so. It fell back to ground, unconscious, and the Youngster ran over to it. "Ziggy!" he cried "Are you alright?" The Zigzagoon faintly stirred and the boy seemed satisfied. He scooped his Pokémon off of the floor and came over to Eris, who had recalled Thief to rest.


	6. Chapter 1: Part 5- A Haunted Past

_**A/N: **____Disclaimer- I do not Pokémon in any way. Nintendo and Gamefreak own those rights. I do however own Eris and any other characters present in this story that aren't in the games._

* * *

"Looks like you won. I didn't realise your Pokémon would be so strong" the boy remarked, before pulling out a yellowish oval shaped device. He flipped open the lid of the machine and stared intently at the screen before putting it up top his ear. "Hello Tiana. There's going to be someone new joining us for a little bit. He just beat me and Ziggy. He's dressed all in black, got a trench-coat and backpack. Looks like a shadow a lot of the time. I'll be back tomorrow, got to go get Ziggy healed. Bye." The kid closed the lid of his device and spoke again to Eris "All you need to do is go north about a kilometre. Tiana will hopefully recognise you. If you somehow get lost just wait until they light a fire and follow the smoke."  
"Thank you. You battled well. I hope you make it back to the Pokémon Centre safely" Eris told the child "Perhaps we will meet again and I can see how much better you will have gotten. Good bye." Eris walked past the Youngster and into the treeline, vanishing from sight rapidly once under the thick coverage of leaves. The Youngster turned away, cradling his barely conscious Pokémon, and began the long walk back to the Pokémon Centre.

XXXXXX

"Igneous, I have tragic news. This morning I was dragged from my meeting and learned that all of my scientists had died in a terrible accident. Forensic teams have been crawling all over the lab since this morning. They found nothing suspicious. It simply seems that my team were attempting to create a new formula that was more effective that our current one. Unfortunately two of the components reacted… poorly, and were spectacularly volatile. The resulting explosion severed some gas lines, which only added to the destruction. So now, Igneous, I need a new team of scientists. Where am I going to find someone willing at such short notice?"  
"I understand Sir. I will locate suitable people at once."  
"Thank you Igneous. You are always most helpful. I will be running interviews tomorrow. Please have them prepped by then."  
"Of course Sir."

XXXXXX

Eris walked in silence through the forest, having returned all his Pokémon to their balls, and dwelt on the long journey that lay ahead of him. He really wished he had his motorcycle back. Thinking of his past he drew one of the knives out of his trench-coat and absent-mindedly touched a spot on his lower back while expertly turning the knife over in his left hand, running it around and through his fingers like water. Suddenly it stopped moving, and a look of intense rage came across Eris' face. The knife flew from his hand and buried itself up the hilt in a nearby tree. Eris, breathing heavily, stared at the tree for a minute before turning and running blindly into the forest. As he tore through the undergrowth he extracted the second knife and flung it to the floor. Tears blurred his vision as he continued to run further from the two blades. He stumbled to a halt and collapsed to the floor, his body wracked with sobs. A voice, deep and gravely, spoke in his mind "_Only the weak cry. Only cowards run from their problems. You aren't ever going to be anything if you never face your problems!"  
_"Shut up!" Eris screamed into the green "Just shut up! You can't exist! I faced my problems and I killed you! I fucking killed you!"  
"_I was your father boy! And you killed me. How does that make you feel? What about everyone else you've killed to get where you are? Did it make you feel good to take their lives away from them? All those innocents with so much to live for; all those funerals caused by your hand. It matters not that you don't have a weapon anymore, because _you _are a weapon. My_ _weapon. Forged in blood and cooled in grief. You are my legacy!"  
_"You are nothing to me! You hear me. Nothing! You can't hurt me anymore, can't make me do your work. Every step I take is a step further away from you and the lie I lived."  
_" Is it though? Does the world work like that? I know your philosophy boy. The bad are harmed, the evil killed. But are you sure that every evil life you take puts you a step closer to the light? Or does it drag you further into the dark?" _The voice faded away at those words, leaving Eris alone once again. His sobs carried on until sleep claimed him, bringing with it uneasy dreams of the past.

* * *

The shadows in the small room were oppressive, the heat even more so. A low oak table sat in the centre of the room surrounded by five figures dressed in black who were staring intently at the maps that covered every inch of the surface and listening to the words of a chubby man who took up an entire side of the table. Pointing to the two people directly opposite him; one a tall thickset male with no hair on his head and a thick blonde beard with hazel eyes, the other a shapely woman of above average height sporting a deep red pixie cut and eyes that glittered like ice in the low light, he said "Cobra and Coral, you two are going to go in hard and fast when the doors are opened. No bullets are to be fired when you're in there. Silent kills only. Rendezvous at the security centre." He tapped the map to emphasise the point, and the two agents nodded in agreement both being masters of assassination.

Next he turned to the two figures on his right. The two were twins, their black fringes falling in the exact same way across their faces and covering unforgiving grey eyes that seemed luminous in comparison to their skin. The only way to tell them apart naturally was to watch them work. One was a master craftsman, creating elaborate traps, weapons of death and destruction, computer viruses that could rip apart an unwary system in seconds. It was often the case that if it was conceivable, Alpha could build it. His twin, Omega, was the opposite in every way. Anything his brother built he could take apart as skilfully as his brother had made it. They even spent their spare time building and destroying objects to see if they could outwit the other. Destruction of his brother's constructs wasn't Omega's only skill however. His greatest trait lay in his ability to use his brother's weapons to their fullest extent, mastering them far quicker than anyone else. He revelled particularly in pyrotechnics and this was the skill he was most often used for. To these two the fat man said "We need explosives that can level the building quickly while making it look like an accident. They need to be ready and in place three days before infiltration. One of their security guards recently _retired _and I've signed you up for the interview Omega. Make sure to impress them."

Finally the man turned to the figure on his left, the shortest of the group. Eris. Aged only nine years old, he was as lethal with his sword, Soul Eater, as with modern conventional weaponry. Some said that the blade had been forged by a demon and gifted to the child at birth. In truth the weapon had been painstakingly created by a master swordsmith, who was brutally cut down with the blade as soon as it was finished. The child stood stock still with the short sword strapped to his back, and listened carefully to the words of the man who knew not to talk down to the boy. "The night before the operation we're going to fly you over the target area. HALO jump onto the roof and lie low until the morning. Infiltrate the complex and make your way to the security centre to override the door control and let Cobra and Coral in." The man was about to continue when a light voice interrupted.  
"Why do we need the kid for this particular operation?" Cobra asked expecting an answer from the fat man, but received one from Eris instead.  
"The day of the operation is bring you child to work day at the lab" he told her "Not only will I be able to use it as an excuse if I'm seen but it also means that we can have hostages to persuade our target with if needs be." Cobra nodded her acceptance of the explanation and gestured for their leader to continue.

"When the three of you have rendezvoused at the security centre you will need to obtain an ID card from one of Doctor Clarke's personnel, as the target area is on a separate system to the rest of the system. Once you're inside do whatever you need to to coerce Clarke into coming with you. From there make it to the roof to meet up with Omega and get the hell out of there in the chopper. When you're three klicks out, blow the place to shit Omega. I want nothing left of it by the time the cops get there." The man folded up the maps and notes that littered the table, placing them into a briefcase extracted from under the table. Before the group left the room he spoke "Operation Psychic Breaker takes place in two weeks. Don't fail." A group 'Affirmative' rose from the five people who left the room, emerging into the burning heat of the day, then went their separate ways for two weeks.


	7. Chapter 1: Part 6- Seedot

_**A/N: **____Disclaimer- I do not Pokémon in any way. Nintendo and Gamefreak own those rights. I do however own Eris and any other characters present in this story that aren't in the games._

* * *

Awakening on the cold hard ground was never a pleasant feeling, and it reminded Eris all too much of when he was younger after having been knocked down by his superior's rage. He pulled himself into a sitting position and squinted into the darkness of the forest. Realising that he wouldn't see anything if he stayed there and attempting to go anywhere could simply get him more lost, he moved towards one of the trees and swung himself up into the branches. Climbing to the apex of the tree he emerged into the cool night air. He stared at the sky for a few moments, wondering what cosmic deity had decided he should be forced to live like he had. He shook his head again and tried to figure out where the camp the Youngster had told him about was. Scanning the horizon revealed nothing interesting apart from the lights of the city of Rustboro, home of the first Gym Leader he'd have to face. Turning away from the lights he saw the more rustic Petalburg City to the west, perhaps another day's travel if he moved quickly. He continued to rotate atop the tree and faced southwards. There he saw a thin flickering light and slight wisps rising from it. He made note of its position, climbed back down the tree and set off towards where he'd seen the light, occasionally climbing up other trees and altering his travel accordingly. After about half an hour of navigating through the near total darkness of the forest Eris saw the feeble light on a nearby trunk. Increasing his pace he arrived in a small clearing, in the centre of which sat a small fire on the verge of being extinguished.

Avoiding stepping on the other occupants of the camp he crossed over to the fire and picked up some of the wood from the pile that lay besides it. Within minutes he'd stoked the flames back up to a nice height and they began to warm him. He sat his pack down next to him and retrieved some berries and nuts from inside. Wrapping the berries in tin foil he carefully placed them at the edge of the fire to cook before eating the nuts raw. He sat like that for roughly an hour, simply staring deeply into the flames and adding wood to the fire when he needed to. His mind turned once again to his journey, and he couldn't help but think of the consequences if something went wrong. As he stared into the crimson heart of the fire, he saw not fire, but blood yet to be spilt. He leant closer to the flames, almost as though to throw himself in, but then moved suddenly back. He'd heard a thump nearby. He stood, retrieving Aurelia's Pokéball from his pocket, and moved away from his vigil at the fireside, back into the darkness of the forest. He scanned the floor with his eyes, but nothing moved. He swept his head from side to side before a small movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Slowly he turned his head towards what he thought had moved, a large acorn that sat innocuously at the base of the tree. As he watched the acorn it twitched twice and then, much to his surprise, stood up on two stumpy feet. Eris sent Aurelia out to make sure the Pokémon didn't run away and then pulled out his Pokédex to investigate the strange being.

_Seedot- The Acorn Pokémon. Seedot's attach themselves to tree branches using the top of their heads. When it is doing this it becomes indistinguishable from an acorn or nut. Using the stalk it will extract moisture from the tree for nourishment, and needs no other food. The more water it drinks the glossier its body will become, and it will also polish its body with leaves when it is on the ground. Often a colony of Seedot is led by the one with the glossiest body. When it is full of water it detaches itself from the tree and falls to the ground with an audible thump. It will only detach from its tree for this reason, remaining stubbornly attached even when being feasted on by a predator. Seedot can be quite mischievous and will move suddenly to scare other Pokémon. This specimen is female._

Eris looked once again at the acorn Pokémon and then at Aurelia before flicking his head in the direction of the Seedot. Aurelia understood and tackled the creature to the ground. It rolled around for a couple of seconds and then began to glow bright red. Aurelia moved to tackle it again, but Eris stopped her. "It's using Bide. We shouldn't attack it while it's like this. Just Growl at it a couple of times." When the Seedot stood back up its red glow was slightly brighter, though not by much. Aurelia growled at it in an attempt to make it back down, but it steadfastly refused. It tried to release energy, but the lack of attacking it meant that it had nothing to retaliate with. Bide worked on the principle of storing the force of any attacks that hit the user, and then unleashing that force combined with the energy of the user. Typically the power this force had was roughly twice that of the attacks, but if the user hadn't been attacked at all then no energy was released. The Seedot looked bewildered that its attack hadn't done anything and Aurelia took the opportunity to tackle it again. It appeared to grow angry at the fact that it kept being attacked, and it hardened its outer shell just as Eris threw a Pokéball at it. The Seedot was too surprised to react and was quickly trapped within the ball. Electing to name her Macadamia, Eris scooped up the ball and walked back to the fire with Aurelia at his heels. Sending out Thief and Alex as well he recovered the berries from their place and let the three Pokémon feast on them, also extracting a few apples for them to eat and a bottle of water that he poured into a bowl. Taking a sip of the water and biting deeply into his apple, he savoured the juice that was released. He looked once again to the sky and saw that the moon had shifted almost completely out of sight. He stood and looked to the east, where he noted the slight paling of the sky. He located the water bucket and doused the flames, covering the area in a strange mixture of silver moonlight and the pearl of dawn, and continued his silent unseeing vigil.

The others in the camp rose shortly after eight, and were wholly shocked to see Eris sitting next to the fire pit. There were three of them, two males and a female, in the camp and the two males began to prepare breakfast while the female, Tiana, who seemed to be the de facto leader of the group, came to talk to him.  
"We expected you yesterday afternoon. What happened to delay you so much?" she questioned.  
"It's not important. I just got a little waylaid, that's all" Eris told her "Anyway, are you a roaming group or do you just stay around here?"  
"We tend to stick to what we know. Occasionally we'll head off into Petalburg Woods but it's unlikely. Feel free to stay for breakfast though. Rick and Allen are great cooks." Eris looked across to where the two boys were standing; one tending something in the flames, the other spreading what looked like honey onto a slice of bread. Breakfast turned out to be honey spread over bread and then toasted in the fire. Despite being a small meal Eris felt it was quite filling, and was unable to eat more than three slices. He thanked the three other Trainers before getting his bearings, and setting off to the west, where Petalburg City and his father awaited him.

Back on the well-trodden path Eris opened up Macadamia's Pokéball and carried the large wooden being on his shoulder. He also sent out his other three Pokémon and made sure they were all introduced before talking to them. "Alex, Thief, Aurelia; Macadamia isn't the strongest of Pokémon right now and doesn't know too many moves. I want you three to battle some wild Pokémon around here and maybe she'll learn something new." The three Pokémon nodded their assent and ran into the long grass that surrounded Eris.  
"Thief, Aurelia, over here! I've found a group of Seedot" Alex called from Eris' left. Thief and Aurelia sprinted out of the grass to his right and towards Alex, Eris swiftly following, though making sure that Macadamia didn't fall off of his shoulder. "Okay Macadamia, watch the other Seedot carefully. If one of them does something you don't recognise then tell me" Eris instructed the Acorn Pokémon. As they watched the two Zigzagoons and Mudkip attack the large group of Seedot Eris noticed that the Pokémon on his shoulder staring intently at one of the Seedot in the back of the group, who appeared to be swelling to about four times its normal size quite rapidly.

Eris noticed the danger quickly "Thief, Aurelia, Alex, attack the one in the back! It's using Growth. If you don't take it out quickly it'll overwhelm you!" he shouted to his three Pokémon, who quickly reacted to the new knowledge by rushing through the horde and targeting the now giant Seedot directly. It blundered around the area, kicking away the other Seedot as it tried to attack its three aggressors. The three Pokémon seemed tiny in comparison to the titan of wood that stomped around in an attempt to crush them. Eris realised that attacking the creature at the bottom wouldn't achieve anything, and called out to his Mudkip "Alex, get on its head. Maybe if you can fill it with water we can drop it." Alex looked at him quizzically "What are you talking about Eris? I can't just make water you know."  
"Well find a pond then and store some internally!" Eris snapped at him, recalling Thief and Aurelia back into their balls to stop them being hurt. He grabbed Macadamia and hung her on a tree to eat while he ran towards Alex, who was still dancing around the feet of the giant Seedot. He scooped him up off the floor and ran with him to one of the trees. Using the trunk as a springboard and vaulting up into the upper branches he began to jump from tree to tree, trying to find a water source for Alex to use. Alighting on top of one of the taller trees he was rewarded by Alex crying "Pond! Seven o'clock." Eris turned to where Alex was indicating and saw the water far below him. He plucked a branch off of the tree, hoped the pond was deep, and jumped. During the descent he flung the branch he'd removed at the water to break the surface tension and plunged in shortly afterwards. He quickly swam back to the top and climbed out, joined moments later by Alex who now had a satisfied look on his face, as if he'd found something he didn't know he'd been missing all his life. Eris stuck out his arm and Alex ran up it, onto his shoulder, before running back towards the now rampaging Seedot. As he neared the creature he held his arm out again for Alex to balance on. When he was there Eris flung him at the Seedot. Alex flew through the air and landed atop the wooden monstrosity that towered above them. He ran across the curved surface until he reached the stalk of the Seedot. Accessing his internal water supply, Alex breathed deeply before expelling a huge amount of water from his mouth. The stream connected with the stalk and began vanishing down it. The Seedot that the stalk topped started to swell more than it already had done. Eventually the Seedot had grown to six times it regular size and was stumbling around without any control. It walked into a tree and tripped, the weight of its gargantuan form dragging it to the ground. Alex jumped off just as the colossus hit the ground and split down the centre. The light in its eyes died as the water and nutrients it had amassed spilled out of the crack that bisected the being.

Eris retrieved Alex and went over to the tree that he'd hung Macadamia in earlier. "So do you think that you could use Growth now?" Eris asked the much smaller Seedot as he put her onto his shoulder.  
"Definitely! Just watch me" the Seedot exclaimed before concentrating her power and growing slightly bigger and weighing down Eris' shoulder a little more. Eris smiled at her, returned her to her ball and continued along the route, leaving the wooden titan behind him. Looking at his watch Eris noted that he wouldn't make it to Petalburg at his current pace until the day after, so he decided to speed up. A few hours of running later brought the city within sight and he arrived soon afterwards. The streets were bustling, many of them headed away from the Pokémon Gym that resided in the centre of the city. Moving against the crowd was often hard work, but Eris managed to do it easily using his training. The Gym, a large pure white building, dominated the central district of the city. There were only two pieces of decoration on it; one was a portrait of Norman, Eris' father, and his Slaking, whereas the other was a simple board that listed the names of those who had bested Norman. Eris eased the door open and entered the foyer of the Gym. Seeing nobody around he ventured through the dojo like rooms until he arrived at Norman's room, where his father was conversing with a green haired child, and greeted him. His father rose from his position on the floor and crossed the room followed by the child. "Eris" his father spoke "It is good to see that you're finally here. This is the child I was telling you about, Wally. I have gifted him use of a Zigzagoon to catch his first Pokémon with. I wish you to support him in this endeavour."  
"I'll do it Dad. Might as well help someone else start their own Pokémon journey. C'mon Wally. Let's go to Route 102 and see what you can find" Eris replied as he walked out, beckoning for Wally to follow. They reached the route quickly enough, and Wally plunged straight into the long grass, hoping to flush a Pokémon out quickly so he could return to the crowded safety of the city. "Erm, Eris. I think I've found something. I need a little help over here." Eris walked towards the timid boy and looked over his shoulder to the Pokémon he'd found. The small green headed, twin horned Pokémon wore what seemed to be a simple white gown, though it could have easily been part of its body. Eris opened his Pokédex and scanned the creature.

_Ralts- The Feeling Pokémon. Ralts use their two horns to detect the emotions of other people and Pokémon around them. It will only rarely appear in front of people, and then only those with positive dispositions. It will display little control over its psychic abilities at a young age, and often struggles with its sensitive empathy. A young Ralts will strongly feel the emotions anyone or anything in its surroundings is feeling, and will often base their personality on these feelings. Ralts also distribute their own emotions, imprinting them onto others. This can lead to Ralts being used in hospitals in order to cheer patients up. This specimen is male._

"Okay Wally. Just send out the Zigzagoon and tell it to tackle the Ralts until it seems weak. Then throw the Pokéball. It's simple really" Eris told the boy. He stepped back as Wally sent out Norman's Zigzagoon and proceeded to tell it to tackle the Ralts, which put up no fight bar growling at the Zigzagoon. The ball that Wally threw sailed straight at it and caught it without incident. Wally grabbed the ball of the floor "Look Eris, I managed to catch a Pokémon!"  
"That's great Wally. Now let's get back to Petalburg. I need to talk to my Dad and get some sleep."


	8. Chapter 1: Part 7- Joe

_**A/N: **My artist told me that I should paragraph more, so that's why this chapter's format is different. Tell me if you like it. This is also the chapter where things get a bit more dark and M rated. I'm trying to make longer chapters as well, so reviews would be appreciated to know how you feel about that. Special thanks go out to Keyblade132 for making this story one of their favourites. ____Disclaimer- I do not Pokémon in any way. Nintendo and Gamefreak own those rights. I do however own Eris and any other characters present in this story that aren't in the games._

* * *

Eris walked on his own back to the Gym, having left Wally to get to know his new Pokémon, to return the Zigzagoon and to talk to his father about the upcoming challenges. He entered into the foyer of the Gym and saw his father waiting for him.

"Hello Eris. How did it go with Wally?" his father asked him before anything else. Clearly the child was important to him in some way, though Eris thought it may just be natural curiosity.

"He caught a Ralts" Eris told him "It was strange though. It seemed a little down, almost scared even. I think it was just me being there though. In other news, you've got my Trainer's Licence. I'm going to need that."

"Of course. I'll fetch that in a minute. Now listen. I know that you're going to want to challenge me, prove you're better than me, but you can't. Not just yet anyway. After you get the Heat Badge from Lavaridge Town, come back here and I'll see how much better you've become" his father told him "There's something else as well. I need you to take a package to Devon Corp in Rustboro City. It's got some important documents that Mr. Stone, the CEO, needs as well as parts for a little side project of his. They're too fragile to send in the mail, which is why I'm giving them to you. Good luck on the rest of your journey Eris. I hope to see you back here soon."

Norman left the room and returned a few minutes later with a small laminated card that bore the name Eris, a thin steel box that opened up to reveal it was packed with foam and there were spaces cut out for the eight badges of the region. Finally Norman presented his son with the package, a hefty metal container measuring around two feet on every side.

Making sure the container was safely secured inside his backpack Eris bid his father farewell and emerged back out onto the busy streets of Petalburg City. He felt his eyelids trying to shut, but forced them to stay open until night fell. In the meantime he had other business to attend to, business that would hopefully get him a meal at the same time. He was starving. Eventually he found himself on the main thoroughfare, Slaking Boulevard, which cut through the middle of the city, separating the north from the south.

Eris turned to the south side, owned by the Linoone Runners. They were the calmer group in the city, typically abstaining from violence and instead simply running drugs around the city. Most often they supplied for the leading gang on the north side of the city, the Vigoroth Brawlers. Despite many police forces saying that they wished to crack down on drugs and gang warfare, they mostly left the Runners and the Brawlers to it. The Runners supplied and in turn the Brawlers protected them on the north side of the city; only a fool would try and start a turf war with either gang, as nobody wanted to fight the Brawlers or cut off the supply chain. It kept the city quiet, though it was still unwise to walk around unprotected in the north.

Eris mused on the gang structure as he walked, seeing a figure high above his head jumping the gap between two buildings, and realised that he respected it. It was… balanced. Order and chaos meshed beautifully like gears in a machine, one turning the other, always in harmony. Eris turned into a nearby corner café, The Slakoth's Rest, and made his way straight to the bar. The air was smoky and pungent; filled with the scent of sweat, vomit and tobacco. The grease and grime that adorned the bar was easily palpable and cracked when Eris rapped hard twice and on surface. A pot-bellied man with food tangled into his grey beard and auburn hair that was streaked with grey came out of a door located behind the bar, removed his stained apron, and waddled over to see who had called him, looking up and down the bar.

"Hello Joe. It's been a long time since we saw each other last" Eris said, cold and calculating. The other patrons at the bar, burly men covered in tattoos, were instilled with a strange sense of fear that seemed to emanate from the child who had just appeared in their midst. Quite a few of them muttered something about having business to attend to and left, leaving half-finished pints on the bar. Joe paled at the voice, and turned to look at the speaker. His face lost even more colour when he saw Eris and he bolted into the back room. Eris quickly vaulted over the bar-top and pursued him. Joe knew he wasn't going to escape by running, and was waiting in the kitchen with a knife in hand.

"Wha' d'ya want wit' me? Ain't you already done enough damage to me an' me life? Ya ain't takin' this place off me, not like ya took me wife an' kid! I'll die firs'!" Joe shouted, as he quivered with fear in the corner of the room, the knife in his hand shaky.  
"I'm not here to hurt you Joe. I'm not part of that any more. I killed the man who led that operation two months ago. All I'm here for is what you owe me" Eris replied, his movements slow and observable.  
"I don' owe ya nothin'. Why should I owe scum like ya? Eh? Tell me why."

Eris needed to only speak four words. "Your daughter is alive." Eris pulled out his phone and tossed it to him "Folder entitled 'Harm'. We've kept in touch." Joe flicked quickly through the phone's menus until he reached the folder. He tapped once, and dropped the knife in his hand. The screen was filled with pictures of a girl; some with her in a lab coat, others with two Pokémon by her side- an Espeon and Umbreon. Joe collapsed to the ground next to the knife with tears streaming down his face. Eris knelt next to him. "I suggest you find someone to run this place why you go visit her. She misses you" he told the blubbering mess "But first I need information. You see and hear everything that goes on in this city. Has been anything out of the norm recently?"  
Joe looked at the child who had shattered his world, once with grief and once with love, and broke down once again. Eris calmly waited for the man to steady himself.

"S-sum guys in red. They bin, I don' know. Runnin' round, stirrin' up trouble 'ere and there. Seems like they're tryin' ta break the gangs up. Star' a turf war or somin'. Goin' pretty slow 'bout it though. But I guess it makes sense, given wha' they call 'emselves" Joe told the child, who was deep in thought processing the information.  
"And what do they call themselves? And what's their purpose?"  
"Don' know wha' the purpose is, but I've 'eard rumours 'ere an' there. Somin' 'bout expandin' the lan'. Don' know if tha' means what they got or the real lan', but tha's jus' crazy talk ain't it. As fer the name, they call 'emselves Magma. Team Magma." Joe finished speaking and looked down at the phone again, tears still glistening in his eyes. He threw the phone back to Eris who turned and left without a word, instead leaving a hefty sum of Pokédollars on the counter. Joe looked at the money from his position on the floor and stood up slowly. He scooped the money into his pockets and went upstairs to pack his bags for the long trip home.

Eris stayed slightly longer in The Slakoth's Rest in order to purchase a meal. The meat was gristly and the vegetables were undercooked, but it was food. Eris wolfed it down to avoid tasting it too much and left payment on the table, walking back outside to find the streetlamps illuminating the road. In sharp contrast to the previous night, it was sweltering and Eris decided to sleep outside. Unlike many who slept rough, the ground wasn't the only option for Eris. He tightened the straps on his pack and turned into one of the nearby darkened alleyways. The buildings on either side of him closed in; steadily narrowing with each step he took.

When the end of the alley came in sight Eris broke into a run, gaining speed until he jumped at the left hand wall. Pushing off the wall hard with his right foot he turned his body so that his left impacted the other wall. He continued in this fashion until he reached the top of the wall and hauled himself over the lip. Eris loosened the straps of his backpack and let it drop to the floor of the roof, but he stayed standing in order to look at the city from on high. Simply put, it was beautiful. He stood for a short while longer, soaking in the atmosphere, before opening his pack and pulling out his sleeping bag. He spread it on the floor, lay on top of it, and looked up at the few stars he could see through the bright glare of the urban lights.

He recalled his conversation with Joe not half an hour ago and wondered what horrors of his past he would dream of that night. Eris closed his eyes to the world and let the murkiness of sleep and dreams drag him away.

* * *

A group of three people walked across the desert sands to a red train engine. They didn't need to talk. They knew what they were going to do and how they were going to do it. Two of them broke off from the group and moved to a nearby pump, seemingly filling up the motorcycle marked there. The third man, a sanguine figure dressed in a maroon business suit and grey trousers, walked calmly up the ramp and into the engine. His voice emanated from inside. It was slow and slick, in control of the situation. "Nobody moves or makes a sound, nobody gets hurt."

A muted scream came from the engine, followed by a swift gunshot. The retort was followed by a second one soon afterwards in response to a gasp uttered by another one of the patrons. This time there were no sounds. The voice came again. "Everyone in here is to leave. You make take your dead with you. The only people are want are you three" the man said, though to whom the last bit was directed was a mystery. People soon started to flood out of the carriage, four of them carrying two bodies with them. They were all too shocked to say anything, and simply mounted their vehicles and left the area deserted, apart from the other two people.

One was a giant of a man, with bulging biceps and pectoral muscles. He wore nothing more than a red shirt with a flared collar ripped open down the centre and brown skinny jeans. It did not seem possible that his tiny legs could support such weight, yet they somehow managed it. His abdominal muscles showed a prominent six-pack and looked as though they would crush rocks. He was bald, the only hair on his face being his distinctive brown eyebrows and moustache. The eyebrows curved up and out away from his face, creating the illusion of horns, and his moustache stuck out as though a lightning bolt had struck him horizontally either side of his face and become hair. The final person, was Eris. Once everyone had left the area they walked side by side into the engine.

Inside the engine several air conditioning units provided soothing, cool air onto the six people who remained. The sanguine man held a pistol rock steady, its muzzle pointed at the three on the other side of the bar. One was Joe, looking some five years younger. His beard hair wasn't a tangled mess and was only just beginning to grey, his stomach showed only signs of someone who was well fed and he still had a full head of auburn. He was dressed in a clean apron that covered a green shirt and khaki slacks, and he clutched the two women either side of him protectively.

The woman on his left, who seemed to be his wife, was dressed in a simple azure smock and her blonde hair was pulled up into a bun atop her head. On his right was a young girl who looked to be thirteen. He ginger hair was parted on either side of her face and came down to her chin. She wore a dark blue top and a short skirt of the same colour as her eyes, which were oceanic and held back a barely concealed rage. On her feet she wore high pink boots that came up to a few inches below her knees. A denim jacket was hung on the peg nearest to her.

The giant spoke first, his voice booming in the enclosed space. "Sidewinder, lower the gun. We're here to have a nice civil conversation. Stick around though. We may need your expertise."  
"W-w-what d'ya wan' wit' us?" Joe stammered as he eyed the giant. "I've g-got money, if y-yer wan' tha'"  
"Calm yourself Joe. I only want one thing. Information. And you are going to provide it." With that the giant reached over the counter and tore Joe's wife away from him."Muriel!" Joe screamed. The giant gestured to Sidewinder who produced to pull out a needle from a box he'd procured from his pocket. He'd moved quickly and jabbed it into her upper arm with precision. He stepped back and lit a cigarette he'd produced from the same box, calmly observing the proceedings.

The giant spoke once more. "That drug Sidewinder just injected your wife with stops the body from falling unconscious or dying of shock, even if in great pain. Here's how this is going to play out. I'm going to ask you a question. If you don't answer, I break some of your wife's bones." The woman in his arms began to thrash wildly and scream at these words, her eyes wide. The giant simply held her tighter and placed a hand over her mouth to muffle her screams. "Let's begin shall we? Has anyone else been asking for information besides the usual lately?"

Joe opened his mouth then closed it again. He hesitated for a minute before the giant spoke again. "Too long. Looks like we get to test how well our drug works!" With that he removed the hand from her mouth, the screams once again filling the space, and brought it slicing down like a scythe into her left knee. Her screams reached a new pitch as her lower leg shattered, dangling uselessly with a small spike of white visibly jutting out of the skin. Joe simply stared in horror at the torture his wife was going through, before launching into a rapid blur of speech "Ther'wasaguyjus'someguyIdon'knowwha''ewant'd'ewasjus'pokin'round'erean'askin'allsorts'boutthings."

"That wasn't an answer Joe. Seems like you need a little more persuasion" the giant replied and shifted his grip once again. His hand came across to the woman's right hand and the fingers slowly closed like a vice. Each little crack echoed like the pounding of a drum, and blood began to drip steadily out of the giant's fist. When he removed his hand the sight made the girl turn away and vomit into the bin behind her. Muriel's hand was nothing more than a twisted mess. Joe, breathing deeply and trying not to look at his wife's recent deformities, spoke again.

"Ther' was a guy. I don' know who 'e was or wha' 'e want'd. 'E was jus' comin' round 'ere, askin' folks 'bout some stuff, makin' notes and the like. A' firs' 'e seem'd like one o' them cops that come round now an' agin, but then 'e changed. Star's askin' questions 'bout the deser' and sum lab or some'in. Kep' goin' off inta the east. Course, nothin's out there so I don' know wha' he' was thinkin' goin' there. Tha's all I know I swear. Now jus' let Muriel go. Please."

The giant looked at the woman in his arms, and then back at Joe. "Surely you wouldn't want to live with such a thing. It's hideous. Eris, come over here. Let's spare this woman the misery of an existence like this." Eris stepped over to the giant and drew his sword with a hiss. Upon seeing the blade the woman's hysterics returned, having dimmed to low sobs while her husband was talking. The sword lashed out and sliced through the woman's neck from one side to the other, before flicking out the front. The screams instantly dropped to a low throaty gurgle as blood poured out of the gaping hole in her neck, covering the floor in an ever growing pool of crimson.

The giant let the woman fall to the ground and stepped over her dying body, his boots making little splashes in the liquid. He reached the counter. "You will keep us informed of that man's movements'. Once a week an agent will come here and expect a progress report. Of course, we have to be sure you'll co-operate." He nodded to Sidewinder, who pulled a rag and bottle out of his box, before reaching over the counter for a second time and grabbing the girl. Sidewinder quickly covered her mouth with the now soaked rag and she soon fell limp in the giant's arms.

"You'd better give us that information Joe. Otherwise you'll be getting some _interesting_ mail" the giant said as he turned to leave the engine. Eris and Sidewinder followed quickly behind him, leaving Joe to stare in horror and grief at his wife's corpse.

Back in the bright light of the desert the group of four stopped by the motorcycle. Dumping the girl into one of the side cars the giant mounted the saddle. Eris sat behind him and Sidewinder climbed into the other side car, his expression not having changed since he entered the engine. The giant started the bike's engine and began to pull away. He shouted over the noise "And that Eris, concludes your lesson on advanced interrogation techniques in the field!"


	9. Chapter 1: Part 8- Petalburg Woods

_**A/N: **Nic, my artist, has uploaded his beautiful cover art to DA. Check out the covers for the story, Prologue and Chapter 1 here. ____Disclaimer- I do not Pokémon in any way. Nintendo and Gamefreak own those rights. I do however own Eris and any other characters present in this story that aren't in the games._

* * *

Eris woke the next morning to the light patter of raindrops falling onto Petalburg City. He moved quickly and rolled up his sleeping bag, placing it back into his pack, before putting his trench-coat back on and walking to the other side of the building. Leaning out over the edge he saw the brown metal of the building's fire escape and jumped onto it with a loud clang. He made his way to the bottom without incident and released the ladder to clamber down. Back on the streets of the city he retrieved his wallet from inside his coat and flagged down one of the early morning taxis, asking the driver to take him to Route 104.

Climbing out of the taxi and thanking the driver, Eris looked out across Route 104 to the iron grey sea. The wind had picked up remarkably since he'd hailed the taxi and now the waves were crashing against the beach with great force. It appeared that there were still people somehow enjoying themselves in the shallows of the water despite the rain and wind. Eris shook his head at their tenacity and took his first steps onto the new route, sending out Alex and Aurelia to experience it with him. He noticed some long grass nearby and decided to see what he could obtain. Aurelia ran into the grass and emerged a few seconds later chasing the tail of another Zigzagoon.

"Just knock it out. We don't need another one" Eris instructed her. After she had done so he knelt down and she jumped onto his shoulder with Alex hopping onto the other one. The group continued in this fashion for a couple of hours until a shack came in sight. The clouds above their heads were bulging by now and threatened to burst at any minute even though the light drizzle hadn't let up, so the three rushed for it in order to ride out the storm. With the waves smashing the cliffs to their left, the vast wooded borders of Petalburg City to their right and the high-rises of Rustboro in front of them the group seemed tiny and insignificant. A bright white flash lit the clouds, soon followed by the roiling thunder. This was backed up by a second flash, though this one arced down into the woods ahead and imprinted its image onto the group's retinas. They made it into the shack just as heavy drops hit the ground, the clouds finally finding release.

"Strange weather we're having isn't it." The voice issued from another room further into the small shack "Some say the gods are awakening again" the voice continued. It was the voice of a sailor, albeit an old one and Eris could almost taste and smell the sea in it.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Eris called out, his Pokémon jumping off of his shoulders and readying themselves for a fight.

"Aye there's a smart lad. Never trust a voice you can't see." An old man came out of one of the back rooms. Despite his age he seemed spritely. His skin was tanned and salt worn from his years on the sea, his beard was neatly combed and his eyes still sparkled with youth and vigour. However, as he moved it was with melancholy and he hung his head slightly. "I'm Mr. Briney. I've sailed the route between here and Dewford Town, and from there onto Slateport, for thirty years now. It's always nice to see a new face around these parts. What's your name son?"

"Eris" he replied, sensing no danger from the man "You mentioned gods earlier. Which ones?" he asked carefully.

"You must not be from around here. It's an ancient Hoenn legend; though some say they aren't gods, just creatures with immense power. I would tell you the story, but I'm not really in the mood for it. You see, I was visiting a friend of mine in Rustboro and I'd decided to go for a walk. I was on Route 116 when some guy pushes me over and takes my Peeko from me. I can only hope he's still alive. The authorities have been searching for him for a couple of days, but they've got more important things to worry about than an old man's bird." The old man sighed and hung his head slightly more, his depression deepening.

"I'm headed that way to challenge the Gym. After that I'll need to go to Dewford Town, and only you can get me there it seems. If I come back with your bird or confirmation of its fate, will you take me there?" Eris asked the man, who looked up in hope.

"You would do that for me?" Mr. Briney inquired, his voice cracking slightly.

"Of course. I've lost companions before. I know what it feels like" Eris replied. He noticed that during their conversation the rain had almost fully stopped and he moved to leave. At the door he turned back and thanked the old man for his hospitality, before stepping out into steadily brightening sunshine. It continued to increase in intensity over the next few hours, and Eris was glad to reach the mud track that winded into the trees and marked the official entrance to Petalburg Woods.

The natural darkness of the woods was augmented by the bright sunlight outside, forcing Eris to wait a short while for his eyes to adjust to the new conditions. As he waited he breathed deeply, inhaling the mossy scent that filled the area. The small amount of light that managed to penetrate the canopy was tinted green and created a slight sense of being underwater. He returned Aurelia to her ball but kept Alex out, mostly just for the company he provided. The trail wound through the trees with no clear sense of direction, almost as if it had been created by a Zigzagoon.

The trees started to thin out about halfway through the woods, allowing the pair to stray from the track and rest in a large pool of sunshine. Eris flopped to the ground with the Mudkip sitting next to him. The pair stayed like that for some time, basking in the sunlight, until Alex spoke.

"Eris, where are we going?" he asked.

Eris looked down at the small Pokémon who'd moved into his lap "Ever Grande City. The Pokémon League. That's our final destination."

"And _why_ are we going?" Alex queried.

"For success, fame, money" Eris replied, but then his voice quietened "To prove ourselves, myself. To show that I'm not weak. To stop the world burning" he muttered. He stood up quickly, surprising Alex who fell to the floor, and started to rapidly walk further into the forest. Not even bothering to look back he said "Come on Alex. Time waits for no one."

A few hours later the sky began to dim and Eris recalled Alex to avoid losing him in the thickening undergrowth. As he forced his way through the bush he felt something rub against his leg, something bristly, and bent down to investigate- it was a Zigzagoon. It nuzzled up against him and he ruffled its fur on either side of its face before swiftly moving his hands clockwise, rotating the creatures head 180 degrees. Eris barely registered the crack that emanated from between his hands and slung the limp body over his shoulder, moving deeper into the tangled forest until he reached an opening in the oppressive canopy where he set the cadaver down on the floor and returned to the darkness only to emerge with an armful of sticks.

Within minutes Eris had a blazing fire illuminating the area. He felt at peace listening to the crackle of the flames, but he couldn't help but remember the last time he'd constructed a fire himself. Every time he looked into the crimson heart he saw their bodies and heard their screams. That pyre had burned for several days, new fuel constantly being added. The voice chose that moment to return.

"_I knew you couldn't face the guilt. I knew you were too weak to" _it whispered from the dark corners of his mind.

"I'm not guilty of what I did. It was necessary at the time. Survival of the self was more important than survival of the whole."

"_And now? What do you think now boy? I think that you'd just run away like the coward you are!"_

"I am not a coward!" Eris roared at the flames, causing them to billow away from him.

"I never said you were" a voice came out of the forest to his left "First sign of madness is talking to yourself you know."

Eris whirled around to locate the speaker and saw her leaning against a tree. She stepped into the clearing and within range of the fire, its light reflecting of the sweat that glistened on her brow. Her green tipped hair, long and free-flowing, fell around her shoulders in a near perfect curve, though it had been shaken up by exercise. Her legs were long and lean, the tight shorts she wore around them accentuating the muscles. She walked over to the fire and sat down, her emerald eyes flicking now and then to Eris, examining him.

"So, you a courier too?" she asked him as she leaned against her own backpack.

Eris was understandably wary of the woman, and hesitated before answering "Of a sort. Who are you? And why are you here?"

"Name's Megan. I run stuff all over this country for various people, mainly Devon Corp. I'm headed there currently. Where are you headed?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Same place as you" Eris replied "Same thing as well really" he suddenly turned to her "Have you got a knife?"

Megan leaned forwards inquisitively "And why would you need one of those?" she questioned.

Eris reached some feet to his left and grabbed the tail of the Zigzagoon, pulling it up into the view of his companion. His voice dripped with sarcasm "No reason, since I like eating with the guts still in."

Megan laughed a sing-song sort of laugh and produced a knife from in her backpack, holding the blade out to him. He grabbed it and flipped it round before laying the body on the ground again, removing its head and splitting the fur from the rest of the body. He sliced the tail off and then moved into the forest to hang it from a branch. A faint splat came from the forest followed by some louder splashing before Eris walked back into the circle of light with the gutted body and a long stick.

After about half an hour the two were pulling the meat off of the spit and devouring it voraciously before settling down to sleep.

Eris woke after Megan, who had re-stoked the fire and was cooking the leftover Zigzagoon on it for breakfast. The two rose as one and began the short walk back to the trail where Megan turned to Eris.

"I've got to run. See you in Rustboro" she said as she took off. Eris smiled to himself and followed her, easily matching the pace.

"Who's to say I can't keep up?" he called over to her. She rolled her eyes and grinned. They kept the pace up together for another couple of miles, before Eris broke off from the track again.

"I'm going to go train my Pokémon" he shouted to her. She nodded and waved to him until she turned a bend in the trail and vanished from sight. Eris sent out all his Pokémon and they scattered into the grass to find some opponents. While they were busy he climbed the nearby berry trees to restock his dwindling supply. He was just descending from a Pecha Berry tree when he heard Alex crying for help. Leaping off of the tree into the dense bush Eris rushed towards the sound of Alex's voice and took in the scene.

To the left of him was a white oval almost three feet high with spiny protrusions lying on the ground. Eris quickly scanned it with his Pokédex.

_Silcoon- The Cocoon Pokémon. Silcoon are the evolved form of Wurmple, and it was once thought that it uses the energy gathered while in that state to survive until its next evolution. However, it has been proven that it eats dew and rainwater that gathers on its silk body. It will attach itself to tree branches while it waits for evolution, moving as little as possible. It watches the world out of a small hole it leaves during creation of the cocoon. It shares some of these traits with Cascoon, though it is often less violent than Cascoon upon evolution. This specimen is male and unconscious._

Eris then saw Alex who was beginning to glow with a bright white light. Eris quickly averted his eyes and covered them from the light, which rapidly became blinding. When it had faded Eris turned back to Alex, who had changed drastically. He stood on two legs now and had grown three feet. His skin was now a lighter blue with his dorsal fin becoming more streamlined and darkening to black as well as being located further back on his head. The orange gills by the side of his mouth had become singular points and his tail had split into two black ones. On his underside there was now an orange circle. Eris' Pokédex was pointed at him in an instant.

_Marshtomp- The Mud Fish Pokémon. Marshtomp is the evolved form of Mudkip. The body of it is covered by a thin sticky film that allows it to live on land, due to it having exceptionally weak and dry skin. It must replenish this film by swimming in mud banks in order to survive for extended periods of time away from water. Because of this it is much faster as swimming through mud than actual water. Its hind legs are drastically strengthened from its pre-evolution which allows it use its forelegs as rudimentary hands. This specimen is male._

Alex, admiring his new form, spoke "Uh Eris. I think I might be starting to dry out since I haven't been anywhere near mud recently." Eris nodded and returned the Pokémon to his ball before rounding up the rest of them. He returned to the trail, setting off at the pace he'd been moving at earlier. He'd travelled another few miles when he heard a piercing scream.

He tore through the bushes, branches whipping by his face and sometimes scratching him, until he emerged back onto the path. A Poochyena was stood in the middle of the track, snarling at Megan who was rapidly backpedalling away from it. A man stood behind the wolf laughing at her.

"It's simple really. Just give me everything you've got and I won't set my Pokémon on you. I don't _want_ to hurt you, but it would be nice to" the man sneered at her.

Her eyes were wide with terror as she stared at the Poochyena, yet she still shook her head defiantly. The man laughed again and shouted, causing the Poochyena to lunge for Megan. She screamed again but the Poochyena never reached its mark. A brown blur shot from the side of the track and tackled it away. Eris stepped out of the bush and Thief ran back to his side, leaving the Poochyena lying on the ground.

"It's not wise to attack someone unless you're sure you won't be interrupted. I don't _want _to hurt you, but it'd be nice" Eris told the man as he stood in the centre of the track, his Zigzagoon beside him. From the side of the trail the Poochyena howled. Eris simply jerked his head in its direction and Thief rammed into it again, this time knocking it out.

The mugger looked to his fallen Pokémon and then at Eris. He pulled out a Pokéball and returned his Poochyena before sprinting off in the direction of Rustboro. Eris reached out his hand to Megan and pulled her off of the ground.

"Thanks for the save. I err… had a bad experience with a Poochyena when I was younger. Been terrified of them ever since "Megan told him, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

"It's alright. Not a big fan of sand myself. Used to be fine with it until someone tried to drown me in it" Eris replied "Come on, Rustboro isn't far, let's walk.

Megan dusted herself off and they began to walk, soon leaving the dense cover of the trees behind. Within the hour they were out of the woods entirely and Rustboro city was in full view, the Devon Corp. Building dominating the skyline. Surrounding it were mainly apartment blocks, though a few of them were used by other companies. In front of the city lay a glittering lake with a rickety bridge spanning it. As Megan and Eris stepped onto it, it groaned alarmingly and visibly sank slightly closer to the water. The two hurried across almost without incident, but just before the end some of the boards gave way. The rest of the bridge, shaken by the slight collapse, also started to fall into the lake. Eris and Megan scrambled to get clear of the bridge and barely made it to dry land before the last board sank.

Trying to not look guilty that they'd destroyed the only route into the city the pair hailed a taxi and asked the driver to take them to Devon Corp. As they drove through the crowded streets Eris noted the position of the Pokémon Gym for later. Suddenly the taxi stopped, and Eris looked out the window at the building. The architecture was astounding. The building had been constructed to look as though it had been hewn from solid rock, or that the rock had been sculpted around it, and then left to grow as nature intended. This lead to threatening stalactite formations occurring from the four corners of the building, their point's almost daring people to walk under them. As he exited the taxi and walked closer to the building Eris noticed that intricate windows and arches had been cut into the rock face, creating shadows that gave the entire structure a certain depth that wouldn't have seemed possible to Eris. He shook his head and went inside with Megan.

In sharp contrast to the rugged outer layer of the building, Devon Corp.'s lobby was exquisite. A large crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, which appeared to have moss growing on it. The centre of the room was dominated by a beautifully carved marble fountain and arrayed around the walls were various fossils of animals and plants. Megan and Eris walked to the reception desk, where a black lady was talking on the phone.

"One moment please Mr. Stone" she said into the receiver before holding it against her shoulder "Welcome to Devon Corp. how can I help you?" she asked them.

Megan spoke first "Hi I'm Megan Pierce, courier" she said, showing the woman a laminated card "I've got some machine parts for Dr. Tabitha Wilson. "

The receptionist simply pointed the lift "Third to fifth floors" she said, before turning her brown eyes on Eris. "How can I help you?"

"I've got a package for Mr. Stone, from Norman Doohan" Eris told her.

"Hold on" she said to him, placing the receiver back against her ear "Mr. Stone, sorry to keep you waiting. I've got a child here, says he has a package from Norman Doohan. Okay, I understand. I'll send him up right away. Thank you Mr. Stone." The woman put the phone back onto its cradle and said to Eris "Twelfth floor. He's expecting you." Eris thanked her and walked over to the lifts, climbing into the first available one and pressing the button for the twelfth floor.

He watched the numbers rise to the fifth floor, where a tall woman with flowing black hair entered the lift. She wore a white lab coat buttoned all the way up and was consulting a clipboard. The doors shut once again and the lift continued its ascent. It was only then that she noticed Eris in the lift with her.

"Hi I'm Dr. Tabitha Wilson, head of research and development here at Devon Corp. Are you here on work experience?" she asked him.

"No Miss. I'm here to see Mr. Stone" Eris told her.

"Oh Charlie will be happy. He loves it when new people turn up. It's the stories they've got to tell that get him really excited" Tabitha told him "That's why he got interested in geology. Rocks can tell the most wonderful stories about times past." At that moment the lift dinged again, and the doors slid open "Ah, here we are. Why don't you come down to R&D when you're done? I'll happily show you around" Tabitha said to him as she walked off "Mr. Stone is in the office at the end of the corridor, on your left" she shouted over her shoulder as she turned a corner.

Eris padded down the hallway, the carpet beneath his feet absorbing all sound. He passed several doors all embossed with various titles such as 'PR Head' and 'R&D Chairman'. Eventually he reached the end of the corridor and looked at the door on his left. Engraved into the frosted glass was 'CEO Charlie Stone'. Eris knocked on the glass, and heard a voice from inside telling him to enter. He opened the door.


	10. Chapter 1: Part 9- Devon Corp

_**A/N: **Slightly shorter chapter this time. Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've been in a creative rut recently. I'm out of it now but instead I've hit exam season, so for the next few weeks updates are going to be scarce, if existent at all. I am however determined to finish Chapter 1 this week. Rate and review if you like. Disclaimer- I do not Pokémon in any way. I do however own Eris and any other characters present in this story that aren't in the games._

* * *

The room's redwood panelling gave it a darker feel, the sunlight streaming through the floor to ceiling windows behind the desk doing little to dissuade it. On each of the panels was a black and white picture of a young man holding different rocks and fossils. His age increased as the pictures made their way around the room until they reached the desk and the man himself.

Charlie Stone's face was covered in smile wrinkles, and his eyes still twinkled with the youthful joy of discovery. His hair existed only in tufts arrayed sporadically around his head. The moment he saw Eris his face erupted into another grin and he beckoned with his hand for Eris to approach.

"Come in, come closer my boy. Let me see who Norman has sent me" the man remarked as he continued to beckon.

Eris sensed no harm from the man and stepped up to the desk, taking his backpack off as he moved. He unzipped the bag and produced the package his father had given him, placing it onto the polished wooden surface of the desk. Mr. Stone slid it towards himself and undid the clasps that held the two parts together. Inside the metal box were two items; one was the strange yellow oval Eris had seen the Youngster on Route 102 use, the other was an envelope entitled 'Progress Report'.

"Thank you my boy!" he exclaimed "I've been waiting a while for this" he said, holding up the oval shaped object. "I'll probably need you to take some things for me later, but right now I have some work to do. Why don't you go challenge the Gym and come back later?" Mr. Stone said.

"Of course sir. It was a pleasure meeting you" Eris replied.

"The pleasure was all mine my boy. Don't forget to come back!" he shouted as Eris left the room.

Eris climbed back into the lift and, remembering what the receptionist had said to Megan earlier, pushed the button for the third floor. Other people entered the lift while it descended, but none paid him any heed. Eventually the lift stopped at his floor and he emerged into a white walled stainless room. People in lab coats bustled around the room, going through various doors, checking various readings, observing various experiments, and it took a while for Eris to spot the distinctive flame red hair of Tabitha in all the activity.

"Tabitha!" he called out. She turned to see who had addressed her and smiled upon seeing Eris. She made her way over, technicians and scientists alike moving smartly out of her way. Within seconds she stood in front of Eris and the area behind her was once again swallowed up by a sea of white coats.

"It's nice to see you here at last" she said " Welcome to Devon Corp R&D, the centre of everything Devon Corp produces. We are the leading suppliers in new Pokémon technologies and everything we do here could change the world. Let's start with the Storage System" she finished, walking briskly towards a door at the far end of the room. The rest of the people in the room moved aside for a second time, seemingly as one, and Eris was thoroughly impressed at the power this woman effortlessly commanded.

The room they entered had even more activity going on than the one they'd just left, though this time it was purely digital. The walls were lined with various monitors, some displaying strands of DNA, others showing thousands of lines of code that suddenly shot up the screen in a seemingly endless blur.

Against one of the walls at the base of the screens stood a row of gleaming silver cabinets with rapidly blinking lights on the front of them. The centre of the room was dominated by bank upon bank of computer terminals, each with a technician furiously typing away.

A woman stood up from her terminal clutching a clipboard and hurried over to the pair. Her ginger hair was tied back into two plaits on either side of her head and, unlike the rest of the technicians, she wore an emerald apron instead of a lab coat.

"Dr. Wilson, we weren't expecting you until later today. The progress report isn't fully compiled yet, we still have to perform a couple of vital bug tests. Could you wait just a few more hours please?" the woman asked, her shoulders visibly tense with worry

Tabitha simply smiled at the woman "Relax Lanette, you're way ahead of schedule. The progress report needs submitting tomorrow, so you've plenty of time to sort it out" Tabitha told her. Lanette sighed with relief, her body slumping as the muscles relaxed. It was only then she noticed Eris standing beside her boss.

"Who's the kid Dr. Wilson? Hopefully he's better than the last one we had. Poor guy left after a day!" Lanette laughed to herself "I mean, what's so hard about mapping the genomes of 365 individual Pokémon, turning all that data into a computable form and then breaking down a physical form into that data with minor variations for each Pokémon before sending that data to be stored on offshore servers without it losing some on the way?"

Now it was Tabitha's turn to laugh "Lanette, you and Bill are the only people who would call that easy. If it wasn't for you two heading this project we'd never get anywhere. As for Eris here, he's not the new work experience candidate. He brought some stuff for Charlie and I'm showing him the important work we do here. Why don't you explain what all this is. I need to go receive George's report on telecommunications" Tabitha told Lanette, who appeared overjoyed at the prospect of talking to someone else about her work.

Lanette quickly grabbed Eris arm and hauled him over to her terminal before sitting down and continuing to type, pulling up window after window to show him everything she could.

"So as you know by now I'm Lanette and I'm the head of this project. Well, co-head I guess but Bill's always busy manipulating time and space or something like that. He's really smart. He built the original system all by himself, though he did have fewer Pokémon to work with at the time. Anyway, I guess I'd better start at the beginning of the process" she clicked a couple of the windows she'd opened and brought them up to full size on her monitors.

She pointed to the one on the left, where a complicated diagram was shown "We start by extracting the DNA from a Pokémon to give us a base to work with" she tapped a few keys and a spiral appeared on the screen. "This is the DNA of a Zigzagoon, but it isn't enough" she explained further "Each Pokémon is unique and if we were to simply use this base DNA for the system a lot of Pokémon would die, because the data specifically for them wouldn't be there. The machine that Bill and I created that de-constructed a Pokémon's physical form and turned it into data simply couldn't handle each different Pokémon. We needed something extra."

Eris could do nothing but simply nod his head in understanding. This was an entirely new field of work to him and he was wholly engrossed by the ingenuity of it all "How did you get around the problem?" he asked Lanette.

"We would never have done if it wasn't for Dr. Wilson. She's an absolute prodigy in the field of genetics and their manipulation. In just a few days she managed to do what we couldn't in months, locate the key pieces of the strand that defined the Pokémon within its own species. With that information we created an adaptable AI that took the base code and altered it as required" she finished. She turned to Eris to see if he was impressed, only to find him deep in thought.

"What happens if the data were to be lost, or the system was hacked?" Eris asked her at last. Her smile dropped slightly.

"That's the main problem with the system. It's exceedingly rare but sometimes we do get bugs in the code or a connection fails somewhere along the line and someone's Pokémon comes back missing a leg or two. We pay them compensation of course. Hacking the system is out of the question, since we take blood samples from everyone registered, and only by submitting matching blood can someone access their account. To gain access to the whole system requires either Bill or I to submit blood, have our fingerprints and retinas scanned before answering a random question that we've set prior, with the other one having to confirm everything. And before you ask, yes the power required to create the solid matter again is immense. That's why only Pokémon Centres have access to the system, and they're all powered by hyper-efficient geothermal generators."

Lanette stopped speaking at last, returning to focus heavily on her work and allowing Eris to leave her terminal. Tabitha chose that moment to return to the room and waved him over.

"I hope Lanette didn't bore you too much. What's she doing is important but she gets slightly over-enthusiastic about it. She really does go on a bit at times" Tabitha said.

"It was quite interesting personally. I'd be intrigued to see how it develops" Eris told her "Where are we going next?"

"My personal section- Genetic Modification. We work on enhancing not only crops, but also Pokémon and we have even began to branch out into human modification" Tabitha told him "We hope to be able to alter human genes in such a way that we make them immune to cancer."

The pair reached another room, this one divided into smaller rooms by way of reinforced glass and steel. Looking through some of the windows Eris saw scientists taking readings from a multitude of plants, injecting a purple liquid into a Zigzagoon and somehow seemingly drawing a sample from a Pokémon made from rock.

The pair made their way to the end of the room and into another room without any glass surrounding it. The desk in the centre was piled high with paperwork, the towers threatening to tip over at any point. In one corner of the room was an unmade bed with even more sheets of paper spread haphazardly across it. In the other corner was a computer running a solitary program that displayed a box and the words 'Enter Passcode'.

"Welcome to my office. Sorry about the mess, but I haven't really had time to sort anything out recently. I've been working with people from Mossdeep University's Paleolinguistics Department and Rustboro's Geology Department in order to try and find super-ancient Pokémon. We hope to use their DNA to improve today's society. Unfortunately all we've managed to find are a few scraps of text describing what ancient civilisations referred to as 'The Kings of the Elements'" Tabitha told him.

She continued "Devon Corp. has been exploring a cavern near Sootopolis City, but recently we haven't been able to venture any farther. Anyway, I should probably let you go now. I hope you ha-" Tabitha was cut off as her PDA buzzed. Retrieving it from her pocket her eyes widened "What the-?" she whispered "What could Charlie want?" She looked sharply up from the small device and stared at Eris. "Charlie wants to see us. Immediately."

XXXXXX

The two walked into the office only to see the high backed chair of Charlie Stone facing away from them. The moment the door had fully closed heavy duty steel shutters slammed down over the two windows, shutting out nearly all the light from the room. Only a gentle flicker from a candle that sat upon his desk permeated the gloom. Eris spun around, confirming his suspicions that another shutter had sealed the door.

Turning rapidly on his heel he charged the desk, placing his left hand on the wood and vaulting over it, swinging his legs to bring the chair around. His arm shot out and grasped Mr. Stone's neck. The two fell to the ground, Eris a snarling storm, Mr. Stone the eye of it.

"Release us, or die" Eris growled to the man.

"It appears I have chosen wisely. Now, kindly release me or you won't ever leave. That isn't a threat, merely a warning. I apologise for the security, I merely wished for no one to interrupt us" Mr. Stone replied, not bothered in the slightest by the fact that his neck could be broken in an instant. Eris, surprised by the man's calmness, slowly released him. He stood, rubbing his neck, and pressed a button on the underside of his desk.

The centre of the desk split in two and revealed a small compartment that rose out, showing its contents; the yellow oval and a letter.

Mr. Stone was completely back in charge in a moment "Nothing that is said in here is to be told to anyone outside if I have not specified them. The consequences could be severe enough to end the world. Do you both understand?"

"Yes sir" the two of them replied, deadly serious.

"Good" Mr. Stone continued "To start with-" he extracted the yellow oval "-I need you, Tabitha, to take this and plug it into the Alpha Server. The passcode you require is inscribed into the back of the device. Once it has been updated, bring it back here straight away. Eris will be joining Project Royal as its primary field agent."

Tabitha plucked the oval from Mr. Stone's hand and hurried out of the now unsealed door. Mr. Stone then turned to Eris for the second time that day, holding the letter in his hands "I know I said you could come back after beating Roxanne, but time is not on our side any more. Things are coming to pass that we hoped wouldn't occur for years. Enough of that though. You will know when the time comes. What I am asking you now is to continue on the journey you have already started upon in order to keep suspicions low."

Mr. Stone now stood and walked to the other side of the desk, handing the letter to Eris "Take this to my son on Dewford Island. Only you and I know where he is. He likes to remain... hidden. I know that you will have to travel there soon, and he needs to know this information. It is too secure to be sent by digital means. I trust you not because of your father, but because I know of what happened in Orre. I need someone like that on our side."

Eris looked at the old man, seeing the sincerity and desperation in his eyes, and then at the letter. He gently slipped it from the man's hand and into an inside pocket.

"And what of this Project Royal?" Eris asked him.

"Project Royal is a study of super-ancient Pokémon. That is all you need to know. However, unlike the rest of the team you will take your orders concerning it directly from me" Mr. Stone told him with a tone of finality. Tabitha returned at that moment and handed Eris the yellow oval. At long last Eris was able to ask the question that had plagued him for many nights- just what was this yellow oval?

"A PokéNav Eris. It is short for Pokémon Navigator and functions as a phone. It also contains a map of the region with detailed information on each town and city. Your's has specialist software installed that will update your map with Project Royal data as and when required" Mr. Stone explained to him "It will be an invaluable tool I'm sure. Now, this meeting has gone on long enough. I bid you farewell."

Tabitha and Eris each nodded their assent and left the darkened office. Mr. Stone returned to his seat and sat still long after the door had clicked shut. He stared at the candle as it slowly burnt down to the wick. The darkness that filled the office encroached until it encompassed everything. Only then, in the shadows, did he reach for his phone. He dialled a single number, placed the receiver to his ear and spoke only two words.

"It's begun."


	11. Chapter 1: Part 10- Roxanne

_**A/N: **I promised I'd get this part out before the end of the week and here it is. Unfortunately Chapter Two will be slow to update for the next few weeks because I have exams to do. Still, I hope you all enjoy. Rate and review if you like. Disclaimer- I do not own Pokémon, that right belongs to Nintendo and Gamefreak. I do however own Eris and any characters who don't appear in the games. I profit in no way other than enjoyment of these writings._

* * *

Eris walked out the stone building, turning the PokéNav over in his hands. He mused on what Mr. Stone had said in his office and realised that it had an air of suspicion.

Why would he need to take orders from directly from Mr. Stone when everyone else received them from another person? And just who was that person?

He reasoned that the answers wouldn't come if he tried to force them. He would instead simply have to play along until they revealed their cards. In the meantime he would simply have to build up his own hand.

As he walked he also realised that he didn't know where Roxanne's Gym was, and had managed to place himself at the western exit of the city. Deciding turning around would be pointless at this point he continued out on Route 116.

The sun was beginning to set upon the route, making Eris note just how long he'd spent in Devon Corp., though he found he didn't care. He would simply work through the night with his Pokémon.

Eris began by erecting a fire in the centre of the route, marking what could be construed as his territory. He sat and tended the fire for a short time, before a voice from outside the circle of light captured his attention.

"Nice fire. Look's like I'm sleeping here tonight" the voice said.

Without turning away from the fire Eris replied "Depends if you have the strength. If you want to stay here you must battle me. If you win then you may stay. If you lose then the Pokémon Centre will have one more visitor tonight." It was only then that Eris looked towards the speaker, the light glinting off of his eyes giving them a slightly demonic look.

"I accept your challenge. I hope you're ready to lose" the voice told him.

Eris was disappointed by the cockiness of his challenger, and returned to looking into the fire. Without looking at his challenger he released Aurelia onto the ground and she lowered herself onto her haunches, ready to throw herself at her attacker.

"This battle will be one on one" Eris said "Good luck."

"Heh, I don't need it. Go Skitty!" the person cried. Eris looked up upon hearing this new name and pulled out his Pokédex.

_Skitty- The Kitten Pokémon. Skitty are highly playful Pokémon, often preferring to play with their Trainer than fight. They are highly fascinated with new objects, especially ones that move, and will observe them for hours. A Skitty that becomes infatuated with a moving object will chase it until it catches it. This can prove to be fatal if a Skitty begins to chase its own tail. Most Skitty are kept as pets by families due to their cute looks and adorable behaviour. This specimen is female_

Aurelia was so hyped up for the battle she didn't even wait for an instruction from Eris before launching herself head first at the Skitty, spinning it head over heels. It landed on its feet and quickly charged Aurelia bodily, but it merely pushed her back slightly.

Now with the Skitty close to her, Aurelia wasted no time in returning the tackle and sending the small cat flying away again. It quickly jumped back onto it's feet only to lie down and flick its tail back and forth, its mouth slowly stretching into a smile.

Eris had been sat watching Aurelia beat up the cat Pokémon all on her own and simply laughed, a short barking laugh, when he saw it try to use Attract. It was only then however that his brain began linking facts together, and he stood up sharply.

He looked out towards where the voice had come from earlier, still covered in darkness, and started to walk towards it. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a shadow moving through the firelight towards Aurelia and he smirked.

"Aurelia" he called "Stop attacking that wild Pokémon. We've got a slightly bigger problem tonight." Eris still had not stopped walking out into the shadows and he was soon swallowed by them. He began to speak again.

"I find it impressive that you believed you could distract me with a fight while you stole my Pokémon. The audacity of it must have required some serious insanity. But I'm going to let you off lightly, since you don't know me."

The shadowy figure stopped, confused that a person had not only worked out his plan but also that they had walked away. From the shadows came a faint whispering like leaves in the wind, only there was no wind.

Their confusion turned to shock when a golden blur shot towards them and bit deeply into their Achilles tendon and bringing them to the ground.

Eris stepped out from the shadows behind Aurelia and knelt to pat her on the head, all the while looking into the poacher's eyes and seeing the pain in them.

"I've decided that you can use my fire, but you'll have to do so on your knees. Aurelia, take out his second tendon." The Pokémon climbed over the man's face and attacked his other ankle, soon having it covered in blood. The man grunted in pain and Eris smiled, impressed at his resilience.

Aurelia moved to attack again, but a gentle stroke from Eris stopped her. He went over to his backpack and pulled out a first aid kit, using it to bandage the wounds her teeth had caused. After he was sure the blood flow had been staunched he helped the wounded man up into a sitting position.

"I hope this has taught you not to mess with people you know nothing about" Eris told him. His eyes were fearful, but he nodded gratefully in understanding.

Eris let all of his Pokémon out of their balls apart from one. He kept the Skitty's ball in his hands and rolled it between them over and over, the metal glinting in the fire light every now and again. His companion said nothing about this process, instead deciding it would be better to remain quiet after the beating he had just received.

Eris stopped moving the Pokéball and spoke "What made you decide to try and steal Pokémon?"

"I don't really know. I just wanted to be better and thought the easiest way to do that was to steal good Pokémon" the man told him "Looks like all I got was pain. Look, I'm sorry about trying to take your Pokémon. I want to make it up to you."

"Don't be" Eris replied "I've already taken my payment. Even more so since you didn't scream in pain."

The stranger shook his head "But I haven't given you anything personally. There's a subtle difference between you ripping my tendons to shreds and me giving you something. I saw your Seedot" the stranger laughed "Pretty pathetic currently. Teach it this using your PokéNav."

The man handed him a small disc with a slight green tinge. Eris recognised it as a TM, though it was considerably smaller than the ones he had seen before. He opened his coat and pulled out his PokéNav, locating a small disc drive on the side of it and sliding the TM in.

He whistled and watched as his Pokémon re-entered the light of the fire at speed. All but Macadamia were returned to their balls and the small nut was left to slowly waddle to his side.

"What do you want Eris? Can I go to sleep now?"

"In a minute Macadamia. First it's time you learnt a new move." Eris held out the PokéNav, a video ready to play on its screen, and tapped it. The acorn Pokémon watched carefully as the video supplied various camera angles and details on how to perform Bullet Seed.

The disc drive flicked open again and the small disc was forcibly ejected, now blackened as though it had been burnt by its time in the machine. Eris shrugged and broke it in two before throwing it into some of the longer grass nearby.

"They still haven't fixed that I see."

He sat and watched as Macadamia puffed herself up before opening her tiny mouth in an attempt to use Bullet Seed. After a few minutes of nothing happening he stood, grasping a long piece of wood from near the fire, and picked her up to carry her into the darkness. The torch he held in his left hand illuminated the surroundings sufficiently to scare away any predators that had lurked around the edges of the fire, prepared to dart in and carry some food away.

Eris reached a tree and attached Macadamia to one of its branches before driving his torch into the nearby earth as a beacon for later. It wasn't long after he'd returned to the fireside that he heard a thump and felt a repeated insistent tapping on his back that grew in intensity and frequency. He turned and saw that Macadamia had returned, sufficiently larger than when he'd left her.

She opened her mouth once more and peppered the air around him with tiny seeds, some of them speeding by his face fast enough to graze the skin. He smiled and held up a hand, the seeds stopping immediately.

"Save some for tomorrow. Roxanne won't know what's hit her"

XXXXXX

The dawn broke swiftly with chorus after chorus of birdsong being the cause of one male waking next to the long dead fire. The morning only brought painful memories of the previous night, soon followed by the physical pain in their ankles.

From where he lay he looked rightwards at the person responsible for removing his ability to walk. A mere child and his mongrel had ended any chance he might have had at a good life. He swore to himself that if he ever met them again he'd end them. From a distance though.

He looked back up at the bright blue sky and thought back on the night. The only thing that had stopped him attacking the child right there and then was his fear that the kid might actually kill him. He realised now though that it was a stupid thing to think. The fool had actually believed he had reformed! He'd had to give up a Technical Machine, but it was worth it. The idiot hadn't reported him to the police, and he was still alive.

He sat up and looked out towards Rustboro, the stone behemoth of Devon Corp. clearly visible above all the other buildings. He started to remember all the things he'd stolen from them when he worked there. The PokéNav was probably the most important; he'd have to call for an ambulance if he wanted to ever get back on his feet.

He stuck his hand in his pocket, but found nothing. This wasn't unusual; it would just be in the other one. He stuck another hand into that pocket but once again came out empty handed. He looked sideways again, expecting to see the child, but there was no one there.

He began to turn his head to look the other way, but was interrupted by a new pain in the back of his head. His vision went black.

XXXXXX

Eris stood over the man's unconscious form. He was pleased. An occipital strike could kill someone if done incorrectly, and he didn't want to kill this man. Not directly at least. He picked the body up and carried it into the surrounding tree line, before returning to the fire and clearing all evidence of another person having been there.

Eris had already been awake long before his unwelcome companion and had been away scouting for suitable spots to leave his body, having eaten breakfast already. He'd only just returned when he heard the man stirring and had quickly lain back down as if he was still sleeping.

As Eris lay there, waiting for the man to look away, he too thought about the previous night. He'd managed to convince his visitor that the swift retribution he'd delivered would be the end of it, and hadn't expected being given the Technical Machine as an apology. It wouldn't have mattered though since he would have obtained it anyway.

He'd waited until the man had fallen at long last to sleep, concerned that maybe the pain in his feet would keep him awake all night. When the time eventually came though he'd moved quietly though the fading light, stripping him of his PokéNav and throwing it onto the fire, doing the same with the bandages on his ankles.

It was to the sight of warped metal and plastic, and the sound of bubbling and crackling, that Eris finally fell asleep.

He returned to the tree line and looked at the man lying half concealed under a bush. He pulled a Pokéball out of one of his pockets and let Thief out of it.

"Make fresh marks in the tendons. Make sure they bleed a lot."

The small raccoon seemed confused by the order but obeyed nonetheless. Soon the area around the man was being soaked in his blood, and his body was being covered in specialist Pokémon attraction food. Thief tried to eat some of it but was picked up and carried clear of the slowly growing circle of crimson.

"Come on Eris put me down" his Pokémon whined "Why did we leave him there anyway?"

"People like that don't deserve to live" Eris answered simply, no malice or steel in his voice, as if this was commonly accepted fact "This way we remove one more bastard from the world, feed the local the wildlife and no one knows it was us."

Thief was by now back on the ground and walking alongside her trainer "Oh" she whispered, mortified.

XXXXXX

Eris strode through the streets of Rustboro City, having committed the location of the Gym to memory earlier. His speed was furious, leaving the homeless and the charity workers that asked him for money behind without even a glance.

It wasn't long before he arrived in front of a small squat building constructed of a lighter stone than the rest of the buildings that surrounded it. Across the top of the doorway the words 'Trainer School' were carved and painted in bright colours, glaring in comparison to the dark stone everywhere else. He stepped up to the door, also painted as bright as it could be, and opened it.

Inside the building the walls were covered in paintings of various Pokémon, obviously drawn by inexperienced children. Many of them featured a young woman with brown hair, either playing or battling with the Pokémon. The room itself was filled with desks, a child between the ages of four and ten sat at each one.

At the very front of the room stood the young woman featured in the pictures. She was behind a desk herself, although hers was covered in teaching aids and materials. As she was writing on the blackboard she hadn't seen Eris enter the room and so he merely leant against the wall next to the door.

One of the children nearest to him had decided that now would be a good time to fire a rubber at their teacher, and had placed it onto a ruler in preparation to fire. The boy was lining up his shot when he heard someone whisper in his ear.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

The boy yelped and dropped his makeshift catapult, causing the entire class to swivel round to see what had caused him such distress. Their teacher had also whirled round, but she had a Pokéball in her hand ready to defend her students. Eris rose from his position and bowed to her.

"I apologise for disrupting your lesson Lady Roxanne of Rustboro. I was simply wishing to stop this troublemaker before he could assault you. Please, do continue."

Roxanne was taken aback by the fact that she had been called by her title and she blushed slightly, but she was also quick to return the formalities.

"I thank you for your actions kind sir" she replied as she put away her Pokéball, her voice reverting back to its regular informal tone after she'd finished "Now, as I was saying there are five different status conditions. Can anybody name them?"

The children seemed eager to please their teacher and were quickly shouting out the answers, Eris himself counting them off in his head. When they'd all stop speaking Roxanne congratulated them on getting everything correct, even badly poisoned, and let them go for a break. Most of them filed out of the room while other stayed behind and played on their portable games consoles.

Roxanne waved Eris over.

"I'm guessing you want to challenge Gym. No one's ever called me Lady before though. Why did you?"

Eris' reply was once again full of formality "It was only right to do so my Lady. If I am correct in assuming you have a battle arena situated here, then I propose we invite the children to watch our battle as an educational experience. What say you?"

"You are correct in assuming as much. Let us wait until the children return and I shall pose the idea for their likening. Only then shall I engage in battle with your Pokémon."

The children did not take long to return to the classroom and were overjoyed when Roxanne asked them what they thought of the battle. They all swiftly agreed and soon were packed into the seats surrounding the battle arena at the back of the classroom.

The arena itself had a simple earthen floor with small spherical rocks dotted around for decoration. One of the older children stood to the side of the arena, acting as a referee, and called out to the people standing at either end.

"This is the battle for the Stone Badge between Marchioness Roxanne of Rustboro City and Challenger Eris of Orre. The Gym Leader may only use two Pokémon, and is not allowed to switch out. Begin!"

Eris made the first move, opening Macadamia's Pokéball and releasing the slowly growing acorn onto the battle field. Roxanne decided that a little more flair would be appropriate, electing to throw her Pokéball onto the field and announcing "Go Geodude!"

Evidently Geodude was a favourite with the children as they erupted into cheers at the appearance of the rock being that was about three feet in diameter. Eris' Pokédex was soon pointing at the creature.

_Geodude- The Rock Pokémon. A person can tell how long a Geodude has been alive by how rounded and smooth it is. They are known for having exceptionally strong arms due to the fact that they pull themselves up mountains to sleep. When they are asleep hikers tend to step on them because they bury themselves into the mountainside and appear to be simply another rock. When they wake in the mornings they will roll back down the mountain to find food, allowing them to continue strengthening their arms later in the day. This specimen is male, and owned my Marchioness Roxanne._

"Alright Geodude" Roxanne shouted "Use Defense Curl." The Geodude covered his face with his arms while burying himself into the earth of the arena. Eris was impressed by the simple yet effective strategy of disguising your Pokémon on the field. However, he was undeterred in launching an attack.

"Macadamia, Bullet Seed" he stated. Macadamia puffed herself up and began firing sets of seeds towards the rocks in the field; unsure which was her true target. Many of them hit only decoy rocks, but three managed to find their mark on the Geodude and cause it severe pain.

Roxanne was quick to bring her Geodude closer to her so she could spray its wounds with a Potion, but this was just the opening Eris was waiting for. He cried "Again!" to his Seedot, who launched on final withering volley that smacked into the Geodude with enough force to push it off the field and into unconsciousness.

The children were still cheering and chanting, though it seemed that they were now supporting Eris instead of their teacher. Roxanne didn't let the lack of support get to her though, and merely sent out her next Pokémon.

"Alright Nosepass! Let's show everyone why we're a Gym Leader!"

The Pokémon Roxanne had sent out was a slightly darkened blue and it stood some six feet tall. It possessed a gigantic, imposing red nose that sent it spinning around in circles where it stood. Eventually it stopped and was looking straight at Eris, its needle like arms pointing directly at him along with the nose.

_Nosepass- The Compass Pokémon. Nosepass are solitary Pokémon, due to their noses being highly magnetised. Two of them cannot come into contact with each other because their magnetic fields will repel the other. Because of this strong magnetic field they will always face northwards. There have been reports of Nosepass that are able to fluctuate the polarity of their magnetic field, allowing them to develop a crude system of attack by attracting and repelling iron in nearby rocks. They move exceptionally slowly, averaging about three eighths of an inch every year. This particular specimen is female and belongs to Marchioness Roxanne._

Roxanne was faster to give her orders once again and shouted for her Nosepass to use Harden. Eris was amazed when he saw the Pokémon somehow become even stiffer than it already was. He told Macadamia to use Bullet Seed nonetheless. She didn't have much energy left to fire them however, and only two sets managed to hit their target.

Roxanne smiled and shouted "Nosepass, use Rock Throw!"

Eris was wondering how the unmoving statue could possibly throw rocks when he noticed some of the rocks on the field being drawn towards it.

"They've got iron cores. That Nosepass won't need to move at all. Macadamia, get back here now!" he shouted, realising the danger now present on the field. The once again tiny acorn rushed back to his side, her place being taken by Alex who swatted away the rocks that flew towards him.

Now Eris held the speed advantage, and was quick to abuse it. "Water Gun, straight to the face."

After evolving into a Marshtomp his internal water tank had grown considerably larger, as was evident by the sheer volume of water that came shooting out of Alex's mouth. It smacked into the Nosepass and split round each side, though it did alter the position of the Pokémon slightly before its magnetic nose pulled it back round.

Alex didn't have a chance to react as Roxanne said "Rock Tomb" and rocks started dropping out of the sky, surrounding and trapping him in a makeshift pyramid. Fortunately for Eris, his opponent also chose that moment to heal her Pokémon, allowing Alex to fire off another blast of water through a gap before attempting to dig his way out of the tomb.

Alex was still scrabbling to shift rocks and had opened a wider hole when some more rocks flew through the gap and smacked him in the face. This also had the effect of knocking him out the back of the pyramid structure, and allowing him to fire off one final shot of water at the Nosepass.

Despite smashing into the creature with immense force, the water did nothing in the way of actually shifting the Nosepass from its spot. Instead its arms simply seemed to loosen and fall to its sides. The battle was over.

"Marchioness Roxanne of Rustboro is out of Pokémon. Challenger Eris wins!" the referee announced. The two trainers recalled their Pokémon to their respective balls and walked to the centre of the field among tumultuous applause

Eris was the first to speak.

"I thank you Lady Roxanne for this wonderful battle."

"And I thank you Challenger Eris for this wonderful battle." She now raised her voice to be heard over the cheering "For the rock hard determination you showed to win, I am proud to present you with the Stone Badge!" Somehow the noise increased in volume as Roxanne handed Eris the golden grey rectangle, two of the corners more prominent than the others. She also handed him a dark brown TM that he immediately slipped into the specialist case he'd got out of his bag in preparation.

Roxanne wasn't finished just yet though. She handed him a second disk that he hadn't seen before, this one a dulled white with a glossy sheen over it. He looked quizzically at her for an explanation.

"This is an HM, or Hyper-Machine. Unlike TMs, these can be used more than once, but they imprint more heavily onto the learner and so they can't be forgotten by ordinary means. They contain moves that research has shown are the used the most outside of battle. This one contains Cut."

The explanation made perfect sense to Eris, especially from a business standpoint, and he nodded in affirmation as he slipped it into his case. He thanked Roxanne for her gifts and thanked the child who had been the referee before waving goodbye to his audience.

He could still hear the cheers of the children ringing in his ears as he stood on the pavement outside the Trainer's School. He opened his clenched fist and admired the Stone Badge properly. It caught the light and in the reflection he thought he saw a shape moving. He dismissed it as just another pedestrian and pulled a bracelet out of his jacket, slipping it around his right wrist. There were eight slots on the bracelet, one for each badge of the region.

He placed the Stone Badge into its slot and heard a cry followed by a thump. He turned and saw a woman lying on the floor as a man rushed past him. The woman raised her head slightly and screamed after the fleeing man.

"Bastard!"

He knew that voice.

Megan.


	12. Interlude- Strength of Rock

_**A/N: **I know I said that you wouldn't be getting any more chapters for a few weeks but I've managed to find time to write this. I'm planning to have interludes between each Chapter to give you a bit more insight into the lore of the world Eris is in. Read, rate, review. Most importantly, enjoy. Disclaimer- I do not own Pokémon in any way. That right belongs to Nintendo and Gamefreak. I do however own Eris and anyone else who does not appear in the games but appears here._

* * *

A vast rolling desert. An empty endless expanse of ice. A dark cavern plummeting deep into the earth. Each one instils a primal fear in those who would dare venture there. It would seem strange that anyone would choose to go to these places, given the difficulty of getting there. And yet there were some who found themselves irresistibly, inexorably drawn there.

Some had heard tales of great treasures hidden there, or read the scriptures and believed there to be even more knowledge to be found. Others merely longed for the adventure and excitement of the journey. Then there were the few who felt a kindred bond with one of the places. A pull towards a better life. Often, it was only these that survived.

One such woman had joined a caravan of thieves and brigands, corrupt merchants and pirate kings. The woman's father had studied ancient texts his entire life, never allowing anyone else to come into contact with them. People had noted that he became more withdrawn as his life progressed, almost fearful of anyone else reading what he had read. Everyone simply believed that he had become greedy and selfish of the knowledge he had discovered.

His daughter knew better though. As her father lay on his deathbed he had told her of a secret chamber in the house, hidden underneath the stone slabs at the back. There he had hidden all the scrolls he had recovered and spent his life translating. With his dying breath he gave her one last task. Finish the translations, follow the map. Find her destiny.

She did not mourn her father. She was his last legacy, and could not afford to be weak. Instead she had gone straight to the slabs her father had indicated, though found no way to lift any of them. What she did find was a small carving on one of them, a symbol of some kind. She had never seen it before but she somehow knew instinctively what it meant. The stone demanded blood.

She had drawn the knife from her belt and made an incision in her upper arm, letting the drops splatter onto the stone. At first nothing had happened, but when the blood had reached the edges of the stone and fell into the cracks it moved suddenly downwards with the rattling of chains. The chamber she had discovered was lined with scrolls.

It had taken her father years to translate a mere third of his library. She did it all within a week. The second week was devoted to collecting more of the ancient texts and decrypting those. After that, a third week spent trying to find someone who would take her on a journey to the yellow sea.

Now she was here, almost drowning on dry land in all the testosterone. But she had learnt how to swim very quickly. She was always the last to sleep and the first to rise, being ready to break camp long before the first of the countless males awoke. For two weeks now she had been using this method as they journeyed across the sands. For two weeks she had slowly felt the pull becoming stronger.

In the first week she had been forced to slay one of the men who had decided she should only be here for his pleasure. He had pinned her to the ground by her shoulders, breathing drunken fumes straight into her face, when her knife gently slipped underneath his ribcage and into his heart.

He'd been so drunk it had taken him about five seconds to realise that he should be dead. No one chose to disturb her after that, though she kept up with her sleep pattern out of caution.

She snapped out of the reverie as the caravan she was in jolted to a halt. She heard a call come down the line and stepped out into the blistering heat. At the head of the caravan she saw a circle of ruins jutting out of the sands.

The woman confidently walked to the front of the caravan, located just inside the ruin border, and asked to be taken to the council. She was led rather quickly to a hastily erected tent, inside of which ten men sat smoking. They were the smartest, most ruthless men on the expedition. It fell to them to make all the decisions, though they had often deferred to the woman.

They asked her for her advice once more now. She gave them as little information as she could; all the while knowing that the moment her usefulness ran out it would be a race to see who could kill her or take her as a slave the fastest. She knew that time would never come though. She knew what truly lay buried underneath the desert sands and its importance.

One of the lower men ran into the council tent, narrowly avoiding the removal of his head by announcing the discovery of a sealed entrance further into the ruins. He led the council members there, only to be beheaded where he stood for disrespecting to the council. His neck spurted blood, much of it sliding down towards the stone that blocked the way. Much like the slab from before, the moment the blood reached the cracks at the base the door began to slide out of sight.

The council members lit torches and entered one by one. The woman followed on at the very back. Inside the ruins the path diverged into three. The left had a musty smell emanating from it, down the right glints of gold were visible. The centre one held only darkness. The council noticed that archaic language carved above each archway and turned to her for a translation.

She was quick to tell them that the left was a library, the right a treasury. The middle led to 'The Heart'. The murmurs from the council carried easily in the hallways, the group clearly beginning to divide into two. The thieves and pirates moved towards the library, eager to learn anything that might help their business. The brigands and merchants moved towards the treasury, keen to satisfy their lust for gold.

Soon only the woman was left standing in the entrance hall, though the sound of her footsteps began to echo throughout as she moved down the darkened middle passage. She did not flinch when the first screams started to come through the walls even though the darkness made them seem next to her. The pleas for help and the cries of the dying went unanswered as she delved further into the ruins.

Eventually the screams stopped. All that was left to drift through the walls was the occasional sob of those unlucky enough to still be alive and the dripping of blood. It was persistent, constant. Almost like a drum beat inside her skull. It was she noticed that she had turned a corner and a faint glow was coming from around another.

She did not speed up. She was not grateful for the light. She was not happy to see the end of the corridor. In fact, she felt only one thing. It was a warmth in her chest, a belonging in her bones. She felt at home.

The corridor ended and she stepped out into the light of a great hall. The hall was an immense cube of at least a mile on each side, a ledge extending around the central pit. Four walkways came from each of the cardinal points to meet in a large circular arena situated at the exact centre of the hall.

The walls around the top were intricately carved with thousands of images of what seemed like various gods.

The woman recognised Anubis alongside Ammit, guarding the scales of justice and sending souls to Underworld. Further along the same wall she saw Osiris, and even further she noticed Ra on his nightly journey, guarded by Set and Horus against Isfet.

She looked at another wall and saw a frightening image of a three headed beast, which she noticed was actually a dog. Next to it stood a man who cut an imposing figure in his black tunic. Attached to his belt was a bident, and held under his arm was a fearsome helm made of solid black iron. From her studies she realised that this was Hades and Cerebus, guardians of the Underworld in the eyes of the Greeks. On the opposite side she saw the Sumerian deity Irkalla guarding her realm, the seven gate keepers helping to keep the souls on their way.

She turned to look at the central arena and noticed an elderly woman of about sixty standing completely still within it. Their eyes met across the vast space and the young woman knew this was what everything had been leading to. She stepped onto the walkway.

She reached the arena, illuminated in its entirety by a complex series of suspended torches, and the elderly woman drew two blades from scabbards on her back, throwing one of them down in front of herself, almost taunting- daring- her young opponent to retrieve it. The other was held in a two handed grip across her body.

The echoes of the metal striking stone died away quickly in the gigantic empty space. The instant they had the two women launched themselves at each other, the blade on the ground lying forgotten. The young woman had drawn her dagger and was using it to parry every blow her foe swung at her.

Despite her age, the elderly woman carried a heft with each swing that could have felled a tree had it struck true. As it was, the young woman found deep within her the strength to block each attack until the moment was right.

The young woman blocked one last strike with her dagger before throwing her opponents blade out wide and powering herself off of the floor, somersaulting over the elderly woman and rolled away upon landing, narrowly avoiding a heavy blow that could have cleaved her in two. The sword was still close enough for the ring of it hitting the stone to stay in her ears for the rest of the battle.

Her dagger was quickly transferred to her off-hand, hidden, as she scooped the short sword off of the ground and using it to block the swing that quickly followed. She locked the cross guards together and strained to hold them there. Her opponent's strength was immense, wielding the blade in two hands allowing her to place even more force onto the lock.

The young woman held on as long as she could, even after she'd been forced down onto one knee. The metal was nothing more than a few inches from her face when she lashed out with her dagger, slashing her foe's right patella tendon. The old woman was caught off guard and she collapsed to the ground. Her elbow connected with the solid rock beneath her and the jolt sent the sword skittering away where it was picked up by the young woman. Now with both swords in her hands she felt more empowered than she had the entire fight.

Calmly, reverently, she walked over to the old woman. They looked deep into each other's eyes, only for both to find no emotion there. The old woman held the young woman's gaze even as the first sword was raised and plunged through her ribcage straight into her heart. Only the second sword separating her head from her body managed to tear their eyes away from each other.

The head rolled to a stop, the sightless orbs seemingly still holding power, a few feet away from the slumped corpse. The blood soaked stone was treacherously slippery as the young woman stepped over to it, drawing her leg back and sending it flying off of the edge of the arena into the pit. The body met the same fate soon after, the thump of it hitting the floor far below almost undetectable.

The young woman strapped the twin scabbards she had liberated from her fallen foe's cadaver to her body and replaced the swords into their positions. She moved to stand in the centre of the rocky arena, the blood on the ground around her feet beginning to harden, and felt a rumble shake the entire complex. She closed her eyes.

When she opened them again she had a sense of movement. Somehow, the torches above her still blazed with light. She reached behind her and drew one of the swords with a gentle hiss. Holding it in front of her and angling it to catch the light she looked upon her own face. She hadn't appeared to age more than a couple of years. She replaced the sword and closed her eyes for a second time.

Her eyes opened once again. All the movement had stopped now. She was far from her home, further than anyone in her world had ever dared ventured. She didn't care though. After the death of her father she had never needed, nor wanted, to return there. That was when she felt a presence stirring at the entrance to the cavern. There were a lot of them. She hoped they succumbed to the traps. But only one ventured into the entrance hall. A male. She sensed him walking down the corridor towards the arena.

It mattered not. He emerged onto the walkway and for the first time since her father's death she showed emotion. She smiled. He was merely a child. The fight would be an easy one. He would die quickly. After all, she had the greatest of strengths.

The Strength of Rock.


	13. Chapter 2: Part 1- Explosives and Dreams

_**A/N:** Okay, wow. This is by far my biggest chapter yet and I've worked super hard to keep producing it when I could. I feel like this will be the start of longer parts and less overall parts per Chapter, but hopefully it won't shorten the work in the long run. I should warn you guys that these chapters are not beta'd by anyone and apologise for any mistakes that appear. I do my best to keep them out of the work but sometimes they slip in when I'm typing too fast and I don't notice them. Read, rate, review if you enjoy. Disclaimer- I do not own Pokémon in any way. That right belongs to Nintendo and Gamefreak. I do however own Eris and anyone else who does not appear in the games. Remember to check out NightArtistNic when new chapters go up for some beautiful cover art. _

* * *

The courier pushed herself off of the ground, her arms covered in grazes from the fall. She tried to stand but stumbled sideways and cried out in pain the moment she put any weight on her right ankle. Eris rushed forwards and grabbed her before she fell again.

"Son of a bitch" she spat out though gritted teeth "Two years without fucking something up. Broke my fucking record."

Eris sat her down against the wall and ignored her pain filled ramblings, his mind having instantly shifted into battle mode. He began to mutter to himself about setting her ankle, his hands already moving into his coat, when he suddenly stopped dead. Slowly he procured his PokéNav from one of the pockets, the logic of his brain having realised the most effective method.

He flipped the device open and called for an ambulance to retrieve her, before getting his phone out and activating the radio. It took him a couple more minutes for him to reach a police frequency. He reasoned they would have found the body by now and he wasn't disappointed. He was even more pleased when a broadcast went out about the mugger. Rt. 116.

He waited until the ambulance had left after dealing with Megan before he started climbing one of the nearby buildings. The roofs were always better than the streets in his opinion. It wasn't long until he was back at the outskirts of the city.

Eris growled to himself as he listened to the cop's broadcast channel. Personally he had nothing against them; they just always got in the way of his business. Like right now for instance. They were crawling all over the route, searching for anything that might implicate someone in the death of the poacher. He glanced northwards from his position on top of the tavern. He might be able to get around them if he went through the trees, but the cover was just too thick. He saw no other way through though, barring murdering most of the cops that were there.

"_Think boy! I did not raise you to be defeated by a few pieces of wood." _His father's voice came to him. He cringed noticeably, thankful that no one could see him.

Despite his hatred for his father, Eris couldn't deny those words. He silently cursed himself for what he was about to do.

"What choice do I have father?" he asked the air. Unfortunately, or perhaps in this case fortunately, the air spoke back.

"_You have everything you need right here boy. I thought you were smart, but maybe I was mistaken. You cannot hope to reach the treeline on foot so the only way is by air."_

"Those branches are far too thick though. There's no way through them."

"_Then make a way!"_

The scathing tone rang in Eris' head. It repeated the words over and over again, slowly increasing in volume until it was almost too much. But he couldn't scream at it to go away. The police would hear him. Instead he dug his nails into his temples, stopping just short of drawing blood. The voice continued to grow louder, drumming inside his head persistently. He slammed his hands down onto the roof and felt a slight pain his hand. He looked at it and saw a thin line of blood begin to ooze from his palm. He'd cut himself on one of the tiles.

His father's voice vanished.

His right hand shot into his coat and retrieved his PokéNav and TM Case, his left going to his belt to retrieve a Pokéball. The next second Thief was sitting on the roof next to him watching a video on how to use Cut. The moment the video was over also saw Thief was flying through the air towards the trees, swiftly being followed by Eris himself when he was sure that the police weren't looking.

The landing was unpleasant, many of the smaller branches and twigs scratching his face as he fell through them. Finally he landed on a thicker limb that held his weight and he started to move, Thief following closely behind him. It took a while to get anywhere since Thief had to keep cutting open a path for them to move through. Eventually they reached a point where the boughs formed a natural lap.

The light coming through the trees by now had stained the leaves fiery red and, reasoning that it would be better to travel in the darkness, Eris set his pack down in the centre of the boughs, recalled Thief, and drifted quickly off to sleep.

XXXXXX

Pyrite Town. Filled with vagabonds, thieves and any others who flee from the law, it is densely populated and highly dangerous, even to those who dwell there regularly. Despite it possessing a small branch of law enforcement, they were more there for the show of support and faith. They had no power. At least, they didn't.

Recently a new group had moved into the town, a new form of law enforcement. They were… effective. The common people who had been living in the town before criminals had moved in were immensely pleased. They'd been forced into ramshackle housing or even onto the streets. Even then they weren't safe from the tyranny of their new neighbours.

The new neighbours on the other hand were angry. Very angry. It was this anger that saw Eris in a darkened chamber bolted onto the side of the crevice that divided the town in two. It was this same anger that had seen four previous agents cut down. Only one of them had been killed by the law.

"Huh. They must be running out of real agents when they have to send a kid over. What's he going to do, whine at them until they die?"

"I would be quiet if I were you Wolf. This _boy_ standing before us has veritably proven his worth as a man already. He could put a bullet between your eyes faster than you could blink, and I reckon he could easily take you on in single combat. His father speaks highly of him with regards to other skills as well. After those comments I'd watch my back."

Eris silently listened to the shadowy exchange taking place in front of him. He was well aware that his performance here would define his life, or lack of it, in the future. The two men argued for a great many more minutes, other voices chiming in at times in an attempt to sway the argument one way or the other.

There was one voice in the chamber that hadn't been heard yet, a central figure around which the crime syndicate that Pyrite Town had become revolved. It took this voice to quiet the chamber. It sounded like the crackling of paper when he spoke, but it also conveyed the wisdom and power that paper could carry.

"These arguments are petty. They do not help us advance our goals in any way. I decree that we let the child take on this mission. If he returns we shall learn of his strength. The Owl has spoken!"

Eris bowed low to the centre of the chamber and began to leave.

"Wait."

Eris turned back to the chamber, looking directly at the where the speaker sat.

"Leave the sword child. If you wish to retrieve it you must return. Otherwise you could simply leave if you were to fail. The Snake has spoken, and asks The Owl for his permission for this to occur."

"The Owl grants permission. It is decreed."

Eris nodded. It was unwise to defy The Owl, especially in his own chamber, and removed the scabbard from his back. He lay it down in the centre of the chamber and watched as it was sealed within a glass case that ascended from the floor. The door behind him opened, letting in a blinding arch of light. By the time anyone could see again the chamber was empty.

Eris had been running through plans in his head from the moment The Snake had spoken, many of them revolving around killing The Snake after the mission. Now on what was essentially the main street of the town Eris was more interested in his primary target. Personally he gave it three days at the most before completion, but a stroke of luck might shorten that. For today though he would have to lie low. The new guys had eyes and ears everywhere and would most likely know that the Collective had had a meeting.

At that moment a hovercraft came screaming around the corner and barrelled straight towards him. He threw himself out the way into one of the nearby alleys and started running, cursing his bad luck. Anyone new was instantly suspicious and Eris' fears were confirmed as he noted the whumph of air being released. They weren't police at all, they were military!

He pulled his phone out and switched to their frequency.

"_Charlie Team ready to move Mercury."_

"_Negative Charlie Team, hold your position. It's possible that the kid has friends in there. Foxtrot, get into the air with Romeo and provide overwatch. I don't want that kid getting out of there unless it's in cuffs or a body bag."_

Eris cursed again. Mercury was a renowned tactician who'd fallen off the grid years ago. If he was back then they must have thought things in Pyrite Town were serious. Although, it might provide a way to bring them down from the inside.

The streets were beginning to curve horrendously, the housing that had randomly been constructed over time starting to block out all the light. Behind him he could hear the whine of the chopper slowly approaching.

"_Charlie Team this is Foxtrot. We are in the air and moving towards your position. Romeo has thermal cameras active. From what we can see from here you're clear to move in."_

"_Copy Foxtrot. Charlie Team moving in."_

He was out of time. He had to get out of here quickly; otherwise the mission would have failed before it had even begun. Just a few more blocks and he'd be home free. From the sounds of it though, Charlie Team wouldn't let him get there.

"_Charlie Team, next left. Kid's running himself into a dead end. Wait no! Go straight, go straight!"_

"Thank you Foxtrot" Eris muttered to himself as he adjusted his course accordingly. Charlie Team may have overwatch support, but so did he thanks to his modified phone. Unfortunately, the amount of space he had to do anything was running out, and if he wasn't careful another strike force would shut him down.

"_Foxtrot, where's he headed now?"_

"_It's erratic Charlie Team, no discernible pattern. Hold your position and keep him from doubling back. If we get a shot we'll take it. Charlie Team he's on the ground. Move in. What Romeo? The fuck?! Charlie Team tango has vanished. I repeat, tango has vanished. We *zzzt* lost him."_

"_Get *zzzt* back here then. *zzzt* Now! I want a *zzzt* full *zzzt* debriefing immediately!*zzzt* An*zzzt* d I*zzzt*'m *zzzt**zzzt*"_

Eris switched off the radio as the static overwhelmed the signal and flicked on his torch. Its high powered beam illuminated the sewer with ease as he swept it across the walls. He was fortunate that there had been a cover left unlocked and he'd tripped over it is his hurry to get to the bolthole at the end of the alley. He wouldn't have used it anyway. That would just give away a strategically useful position.

He moved towards one of the slime covered walls and felt around on the old stones. Smugglers still used these tunnels and had marked the walls to help guide them to where they needed to go. Finding no grooves he turned his torch off. Out of the darkness leapt a glowing arrow that pointed northwards and Eris quickly snapped his torch back on as he set off.

It took him a few hours, mostly because the directions on the walls were exceptionally complex to any who weren't versed in them, but he made it to his destination. The Bomb Hut. They were well known for being able to procure any kind of explosive under the sun, for a price. They were perfect for what Eris needed.

He pushed aside the fabric covering and walked into the room, carved in secret out of the walls. Adorning the walls were hundreds of anti-personnel explosives, from traditional fragmentation grenades to high-tech room clearing UVs. Eris was highly impressed with the selection; they'd even managed to get their hands on a Screecher. Designed primarily for Pokémon Warfare, the Screecher was an adaptation on the flashbang that released a continuous high frequency whine that immobilised the targets thanks to it overpowering their senses. They could also be attached to mines in order to deny an area.

Eris had started to investigate one of the mines on the wall, dimmly aware of a banging coming closer, and was reaching out to touch it when a thick shaft of wood cracked down onto his knuckles. Following it was high pitched insane sounding laugh and a voice of an even higher pitch.

"Wouldn't touch that if I were you sonny boy, no no no. Old Betty there's armed to stop nosy intruders like you. So what're you doing here eh? Why do you need Andromeda today? What's the business you want?"

With every 'you' she poked him with her stick, the thick knotted wood being driven deep into his abdomen and winding him repeatedly. He didn't complain though. Andromeda provided the second best homemade explosives there were in the business, and that was while she was blind. Before then there was no one who could have matched her speed and skill with their creation.

"I require some explosives Andromeda."

"Well of course you do. Wouldn't come in here if you didn't. What I need to know if what exactly you need. Can't do anything without knowing that. And what's your name? Andromeda's not heard your voice before."

Eris swallowed. Do or die time. "I am Eris. I require enough C4 to blow the new police headquarters to shit and breaching charges to get through the doors inside."

Andromeda's face lit up with delight and Eris relaxed as she quickly shuffled away through the clutter into a back room. Eris followed, amazed at how easily and fluidly she moved, banging her stick onto the stones all the way. The back room was filled with equipment. Eris noted the array of chemicals that were neatly ordered at the back of the room in a cabinet, and it was to this cabinet that Andromeda moved.

"RDX, RDX where is the RDX? I know I've got some around here somewhere" she muttered to herself "Ah there we go. Which means that the plasticiser is there, the binder there and…" she trailed off as she moved towards one of the tables, placing the chemicals on it. She tapped twice on the floor and swivelled to where Eris was standing.

"Give me time boy. Go scope out the attack site and be ready to infiltrate the building when my courier gets there" Andromeda said before she turned back to the table, scooped the materials back up and moved over to a large vat of solvent.

Eris returned to the sewers and set off following the hidden directions again towards the new system. There was a stark contrast between the dankness of the old sewers, constructed of brick, and the new, constructed of metal with a super hydrophobic coating. Eris didn't care what they were made of right now though. All he cared about was if Mercury had overlooked them.

His footsteps echoed along the pipes of the sewer, reverberating around him constantly. As he reached one of the corners he slowed his pace and peered around it, his left hand on his hip holster. He threw himself back round the corner as a hailstorm of bullets filled the space where his head had been a moment earlier.

He heard their footsteps ringing out along the pipe as they hurried towards him, and seeing no other option he threw himself into the central channel. A pair of them rounded the corner, releasing alternating bursts of fire from their assault rifles, only to stop when they saw no one there. Eris ended their confusion by emerging from the foul water and putting his own bullets between their eyes.

He retreated to one of the nearby ladders and climbed out into the polluted air of the industrial district. Compared to the stench rolling off of him, it was heavenly. Being careful to avoid being seen by any of the workers, let alone smelt, Eris fled the industrial district towards another bolt hole. All the while he was acutely aware of the large tower that dominated the skyline behind him, threatening to end his existence.

The safe house was simply furnished, a threadbare decaying rug the only thing providing any cover to the freezing concrete floor. Tucked into one corner was a small sink adjacent to a copper tub, a large pot sitting next to them. On the floor against the far wall lay a moth eaten mattress with springs sticking out of it. Eris closed the door behind him and slid the bolt across before grabbing the pot off of the floor and filling the bath.

The water was cold, but it was clean. Eris washed the smell of as best he could, but he couldn't remove it entirely. It took a while before he was satisfied, but eventually he began to feel the first tendrils of sleep claw at the corners of his mind. He climbed out of the bath and re-dressed himself before easing down onto the mattress. Unconsciousness came mercifully quickly.

XXXXXX

Eris woke, his eyes blinded by a thin shaft of moonlight that pierced the canopy above him. For a moment he was confused as to his whereabouts, fully expecting to have woken in one of many crappy rooms he'd had to sleep in when he was younger. The smell of nature soon brought him back to the real world though. He stood on the thicker bough as he shook off the final bleary moments, sending Thief out into the night air so they could continue on their way.

To begin with they moved to the edge of the treeline and noticed that the police had set up a night watch station. Upon a closer inspection it seemed that whoever was on guard had fallen asleep along with the rest of the officers. Eris grinned to himself in the darkness and jumped down from the trees.

Now on the ground Eris was able to move far faster than he had been able to earlier in the day. Eating an apple as he ran provided the small amount of energy needed to keep going. The rest was given by the drive to finish a mission. By the time the sky began to turn pink with the first rays of dawn Eris had made it to the end of the route, where craggy mountains divided the land in two. Nearby lay deserted construction equipment and a hut with smoke emanating from the chimney. Up a short slope sat the entrance to a cave, a sign with 'Under Construction' written on it at the side.

Eris walked up to the hut and knocked on the door. A stocky man of about 6 feet opened the door, his thick beard obscuring his mouth, though his posture suggested he was scowling. His arm bulged with muscles as he held the wooded edge in an iron grip. His overalls were dirtied with dust and his shoes were scuffed, though still solidly built.

"What do you want? And how did you get here?" Despite his lower class appearance his tone was educated. He could have easily been a politician or barrister by his voice rather than a worker by his body. His eyes flicked about, searching in the darkness. Eris opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by an urgent whisper. "Never mind. Just get inside."

Eris hurried into the building, the additional warmth of the fire washing over him making him notice how cold he actually was. The door behind him was quickly shut and he was ushered by another worker into a store room. Soon after he listened as the first man moved to answer a second knock.

"What can I do for you officer?" the man asked.

"One of my men believes that a child ran this way. Due to our current investigation we have the ability to search this building without a warrant if we believe a suspect to be located here."

The worker was quick to respond. "Is this power sanctioned by The Right Honourable Marchioness Roxanne of Rustboro and the surrounding domains? Or is it something you've given yourself because you believe us to be simple folk with no knowledge of the law? Maybe I should contact Lady Roxanne. I do not care if you are conducting a murder investigation officer, unless you have a search warrant you will not be allowed entry into this building. I would bid you a goodnight, but as it is dawn I shall bid you good day."

The door was quickly slammed, silencing the officers babbled protests, and the sound of a bolt being drawn across it echoed into the store room. Eris was soon after summoned out from behind the crates, a mug of hot liquid being shoved roughly into his hands as he was sat down at a crudely constructed table, one of the legs being shorter than the other three causing it to rock anytime weight was put on it.

The well-mannered worker sat down opposite him, but before he could speak one of the men who had been watching the exchange earlier spoke.

"What the fuck are you doing here kid? How the fuck did you get past the fucking cops and why the fuck made you decide to come all the way out here?"

Eris drank deeply from his mug, savouring the taste of the vegetable soup, before answering carefully "I was simply lucky to avoid them I guess. I came here to help an acquaintance. She was mugged and he ran in this direction. I merely chased him without thinking. I apologise for intruding on your work site."

"What work site?" another of the men scoffed "We haven't been able to work in weeks thanks to that 'eco-activist' in the damn tunnel. If it wasn't for her we'd have been done ages ago."

The first man, who Eris realised must have been the foreman of the team, held up his hand for silence, quickly being rewarded with it. It was then he who explained to Eris the complexities of their situations.

"Your mugger is in one of two places. Police custody or that cave. Normally I do not sympathise with those who commit crimes, but for their sake I pray that they're in custody. If they're stuck in that cave then may the gods have mercy on their soul. It would be a miracle for anything to walk back out that cave. Which is why we can't get in there to continue digging. I'm sorry son, but I doubt you're getting back whatever it is your friend lost."

Eris had continued to drink from his mug during this and, setting it down on the table with a thunk, stood from his chair. "I presume you gentleman have a backdoor?" he asked. One of the men nodded and pointed with a grunt towards another room, which Eris swiftly entered. Without stopping to answer anything shouted after him he hurried out of the door into the steadily intensifying golden rays.

The cave entrance was a mere dash away, nothing more than a few yards, but the warnings given to him by the workers weighed heavily on his mind and seemed to slow him down. He brushed it off and was soon stood just inside the arch of the cave. As far as he could see the cave extended a fair way back, almost to the other side of the mountain if he was correct. As he stepped further into the cave he heard a click right next to his head and felt cold metal pressing against his temple. He stopped immediately.

"Keep walking" a voice near his ear said. It was feminine and sounded slightly nervous, yet insistent and determined at the same time. "Look, I don't want to kill you so please just start walking again. We're going to go deeper into the cave and I'm going to tie you up and then the police should listen to me right?"

Eris was unsure if the woman was still talking to him by the end of her spiel, but decided that it didn't matter. When a gun was pointed at your head at such close range it was wise to follow the orders being given. Especially when he could feel the gun jittering and that the woman probably had a twitchy trigger finger. The slightest wrong move could see him joining those he never wished to see again. He started to walk.

He felt the gun pushing him sideways slightly and turned accordingly into a small antechamber. In the centre was a small gas lamp, illuminating the other three occupants of the room. Two of them were bound by cable ties, hands and ankles locked together. The third was a bird, trapped within a small bronze cage. As he passed it he saw its collar, on which was inscribed 'Peeko'. He tried to recall where he'd heard the name before, suddenly remembering that the sailor had had a Peeko. It had completely slipped his mind thanks to the avalanche of activity that had occurred since then.

He kicked himself for forgetting such a simple thing, before throwing himself to the floor as he felt a subtle movement against his head. The sound filled the space, deafening all four of the humans, making them immune to the shrieks of the bird. Eris quickly stood, moving to attack the woman now that she was trying to recover from the recoil of the firearm. He was almost upon her when he found himself looking cross-eyed down the dark hole of the muzzle, this time almost rock steady.

"I'm trying to help the Pokémon in here. Please don't make me fire again." This time she sounded on the verge of tears, but her hand didn't display the same distress. "Just go to the wall and let me tie you up."

Eris didn't hear her, still suffering from hearing loss thanks to her earlier attempt to kill him, and as such continued to stand where he was staring at his possible death. His captor seemed to realise this and gestured with the gun towards the wall, allowing him to understand her intentions. It didn't take long for his ankles and hands to be bound in the same way as the others. Eris could tell in an instant that she wasn't very experienced. Tying his hands in front of him simply facilitated an easier escape when the time came. Given her inexperience Eris was confident that she would divulge her motives to him while he waited.

"So you've got a gun and you've hostages, but why can't the police just storm this place? It's not like there's much resistance here to stop them. In fact, the construction workers could probably take this place with minor injuries if they tried. So why haven't they?" Eris asked conversationally, as though he was freely sitting at a dining table instead of bound on a rocky floor.

"They wouldn't dare" the woman whispered back "I'm here to protect the Pokémon from their noise, and I'm going to protect them in every way I can." She then pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket and opened it out, showing Eris a crude diagram that she'd scrawled on it. It seemed to depict the cave, though many other lines and crosses had been drawn onto it. With a start Eris realised that, though poorly designed, it was a amp of where bombs had been planted.

"If anyone else tries to get me out of here the place goes boom. Pokémon will be harmed, but it would protect them in the long run. Nothing would able to get back into these caves with all that rubble."

Eris looked from the paper to her face, and therein saw a woman possessed with what she thought was right. "It's insane" he hissed.

"It's necessary" she hissed back, before turning sharply away from him and leaving, presumably to another part of the system. Eris took the opportunity to place one of his finger nails in the lock of his ankle binding. Now that it was held down he was able to easily slide the tie in the reverse direction. After that he stood up and grabbed the end of his wrist binding with his teeth, pulling it as tight as he could. Now that they were cutting into his wrists he raised his hands high above his head, before bringing them crashing down into his abdomen, spreading his elbows apart and forcing his wrists away from each other. The tie sprang apart.

Eris rubbed his wrists where the tie had cut into them as he moved towards the other two men tied up. One was the mugger that had attacked Megan earlier and the second seemed to be a regular citizen who'd strayed too far from the beaten path. He frisked the mugger for anything that could have been Megan's, but found nothing.

"She took everything I had with her" the mugger told him despairingly "What does it matter though? She's just going to blow the place to shit. Probably kill you before you get whatever it is you want."

"Not if I can do anything about it" Eris replied, grabbing the mugger's wrists and shimming the tie off of them, repeating the process with his ankles and the other captive. "Run" he told them "Run as fast as you can out of here. I'll distract her. Take the bird with you as well. Leave it with the construction workers."

The two men glanced at each other before rushing out of the antechamber, hauling the cage with them. Their footsteps echoed back along the walls and Eris cursed, rushing out the chamber himself. He saw the woman who had captured him charging down from the end of the tunnel, looking bewildered, before she suddenly turned off course. Eris ran towards where she had turned, finding a second antechamber attached to the tunnel. He grabbed a loose stone off the floor and flung it towards her. It smacked her in the back of the head and she stopped searching through a crate.

The brief second of distraction allowed Eris to take in his surroundings. The place was littered with crates, many containing food and water. Inside of one he saw a package stamped with the words 'Devon Corp.' and he rushed towards it, grabbing it straight out of the crate. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a glint and ducked, narrowly avoiding the second bullet of the day. He ran out of the chamber, a third bullet taking a chunk out of the stone just behind him.

The package was heavy and slowed him down considerably, his movement pattern of weaving back and forth decreasing the speed further. It was only when she heard a scream from behind him that he stopped weaving.

"They'll never finish this tunnel. The Pokémon will be safe forever!" the woman screeched. Glancing back Eris saw a small black device grasped in her open hand. He pushed himself to the limit when he saw her hand close into a fist. He was almost to the entrance when he glanced at his feet and saw a small purple Pokémon. It was too far away though and he closed his eyes as the shockwave from behind thrust him through the entrance, the fireball following behind scorching his back despite his coat.

Lying on the floor with first degree burns was where the rapid response teams found him. They attempted to revive him where he lay, but they had no luck. They loaded him into the ambulance and pulled away, leaving him to drift through the darkness.

XXXXXX

Eris woke up uncomfortably, his back in grating pain. The springs from the mattress had dug into it all night long and left deep marks through his coat. He moved swiftly though, ignoring the twinges of pain that shot through his back at every movement. It only took a few minutes for him to have vacated the safe house, leaving no trace other than a slight depression in the mattress that he had been there.

Back on the streets of Pyrite Town Eris felt exposed, mostly thanks to the nearby industrial district and the tower that squatted in there. It didn't take before he was required to duck behind a dumpster in an alley to avoid a police patrol. This process repeated itself twice more before he was able to find a manhole into the old system, since it was too dangerous to attempt to enter the new system directly. Once there he spent the next couple of hours attempting to decipher the directions hidden in the walls again, eventually giving up and following a courier through to a smaller part of the new system.

It was only then that he learned the person he'd been following was Andromeda's courier, who was carrying a sizeable amount of explosives. After explaining who he was and obtaining the explosives held in a generic sports bag the courier handed him a note before taking off on another delivery.

_Give them hell for me- Andromeda._

Eris couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. One thing he did realise that if he succeeded then her business would boom massively, everyone wanting to use her weaponry even more than they originally did. It took slightly longer for Eris to make it to the tower's entry port this time, but when he did he discovered no one there.

He plastered the walls with the C4, fully intending to bring the place down on itself and hopefully getting rid of most of those inside before they had a chance to realise what was happening. If it somehow managed to stay standing he would infiltrate himself from the ground, working his way up until he reached Mercury.

With the explosives planted he navigated back into the old sewers and climbed out as soon as he could. Once he'd worked out his position he moved northwards to a stash he had set up a couple of years earlier. Stealing a bike that someone had foolishly left unchained outside of a store sped the process up- and left some poor sap having to walk home through the worse part of the city.

His stash was hidden behind a dumpster, placed outside of the regular refuse collection patrol to avoid discovery. It was also far lighter than it appeared, having extremely thin walls and no contents whatsoever, since it was simply designed to cover a hole in the floor. Pushing it aside revealed a metal hatch in the earth. He pulled it open and retrieved two weapons from it, an assault rifle and a double barrelled shotgun. The shotgun he strapped to his left leg and the assault rifle he slung across his back, the stock jutting out just above his right shoulder. His pistol stayed in its hip holster and the sports bag was held over his left shoulder. After he'd made sure his trench coat covered the three weapons he rode the bike back towards the industrial district, grabbing a small meal at a café on the way.

The sun had reached its zenith when Eris pulled up as close as he could to the tower. The orb seemed to be sat atop the spire, crowning it in a blaze of yellow. Eris unzipped the sports bag and pulled out a small black device, wrapping his finger around the trigger. He pressed down and felt the vibrations shooting through the floor and the sewer systems buried beneath him. As he watched the fire on top of the spire was replicated at the base, and a slow fall began.

It didn't last long though, but it had been long enough to disrupt the entirety of the ground forces surrounding the tower. Eris rushed in on the bicycle, one hand on the bars, the other holding his pistol to provide covering fire. As he neared the tower he realised that it had fallen to such a height that the doorway was no longer accessible. However, one of the higher windows was almost within entry height.

Fortunately for Eris it was one of the less important windows, and the builders had elected not to use bulletproof glass, allowing him to shoot out the glass as he got closer. Then he holstered his pistol and sped up his peddling, closing the distance between him and the wall at a frightening rate. It was almost upon him when he stood up off the peddles and onto the saddle, launching himself off of it into the wall, his feet connecting with the surface solidly. A couple of upwards steps and a few lacerations later he was inside the building.

The first door he came across had been loosened by the building's descent, as had the nerves of the soldier behind it. Before his training could even kick in Eris blew a bloody hole in his chest with the shotgun. Stepping over the convulsing cadaver and moving towards the stairs Eris snapped the weapon open and reloaded the spent shell. Unfortunately the stairs' locking mechanism hadn't been damaged despite the blast at the base, leaving Eris to plant one of his breaching charges against the doors.

The detonation smashed the double doors apart and Eris rushed through them, unslinging his assault rifle as he ran up the stairs. Another breaching charge two floors up blew the second set of doors open and allowed the stairwell to be filled with bullet holes. When the tumultuous assault stopped Eris opened fire in short sharp bursts, cutting them down while they reloaded with a triad of bullets nestled between their eyes.

He rolled through the doors and behind a desk as a rapid two shot retort filled the space behind him. He stuck his head out of the side and quickly pulled it back before another bullet found it. Electing to fire randomly rather than sit still and get shot he stuck the barrel of the rifle over the edge of the desk and unleashed a fusillade of lead towards his attacker. At the same time he threw himself out from behind the desk, firing continuously as he ran. It wasn't long before he ran dry, but he'd made it further into the room. He quickly thumbed the magazine release and slotted a new one in before the first had hit the floor.

He cocked the weapon and was about to lean out to find his aggressor when he heard footsteps closing the distance between them. He flung the rifle out from behind the desk and threw himself in the opposite direction. His faceless attacker fired at the rifle and was rewarded with 9 millimetres of lead in the eye.

Unfortunately the stairwell ended at the floor he was on, leaving the lift as the only way up to the top. He was planting a charge on the doors when a voice came from behind him.

"Turn around Eris." It was a woman, confidant and empowered. Eris turned around and found himself looking at three rifles. The woman who had spoken lowered her weapon, leaving the two men either side of her to cover him. She was a redhead, the right half of her face obscured by her bangs. The only visible eye never seemed to look at you, instead around you, the deep chocolate failing to comfort you. Her uniform was covered with various medals, and she seemed to command absolute authority by merely existing.

"I can only assume that the target of your brazen attack is General Mercury. I am Major-General Medea. Although considering Lieutenant-General Storm is lying on the floor behind me, I guess that means I've got one of the two promotions I'm claiming today. Given that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, I believe that we could work together to attain our goals."

"Attempting to perform a coup d'état by negotiating with a highly skilled assassin who is the exact opposite of everything you strive for doesn't seem to me like a smart move. So I'm afraid I'm going to have to turn your offer down" Eris said, throwing himself sideways as he finished and detonating the charge on the lift. The thing was he'd planted two charges, one facing each way, and when they exploded they not only destroyed the doors but also forced the three mutineers to duck.

Before the smoke had cleared Eris charged into the lift shaft, rapidly climbing up one of the ladders bolted to the wall. It wasn't long before he heard bullets starting to ping off the walls around him, forcing him to increase his pace. His pursuers quickly gave up though, electing to save firepower instead of waste it on far off targets. Eris soon reached the final set of doors in the shaft, but continued climbing above them. He was about to haul himself up onto the catwalk between the two shafts of the building when the entire structure lurched and dropped alarmingly. Eris was left dangling over open space, only one hand holding onto the steel rung. Far below him he saw the falling figure of one of the men, plummeting to a fiery demise.

Taking note of the lack of time he had remaining he grabbed the rungs with his free hand and pulled himself up to the catwalk. He walked across the precarious metal mesh and stood on the second lift, amazingly still situated in the shaft. He pulled a multi tool out of one of his pockets and began unlocking the top of the box. He dropped inside it and, praying that the doors still worked, thumbed the button to open them.

They opened. Inside the room was a holographic representation of the tower floating in the centre. Like the real one it burned with holographic fire at the lower levels, and had small dots placed around it representing the people present within. Eris noticed that he was absent from the diagram. On the far side of the hologram stood a fair haired man, with thin, almost invisible stubble on his chin. The hair was cropped short in the traditional military style, though his oceanic eyes held the sparkle of the thief. A cream suit covered his muscular frame, the ice blue tie exemplifying his eyes, Sat on a low table next to him was a chess game in progress. In his hands was a letter which he didn't glance up from as he spoke.

"Welcome to my base of operations Eris. I've been watching you for some time. It intrigued me when they would send for you to take me down." His voice was deep and authoritative, carrying a heavy southern Kantonian accent. "The important question is, what makes you think you can take me down?" he asked.

"Your Major-General is performing a coup d'état as we speak. She wishes to usurp your power" Eris replied, aware of her encroaching presence on the hologram.

Mercury scoffed. "Medea does not worry me. She is a strong woman, and a good soldier, but her lack of loyalty and obedience is her downfall. Even if she were to take over here she wouldn't listen to the higher ups, most likely causing a war that spanned continents. What else do you think will persuade me?"

Eris lowered his voice to near imperceptible levels. "Honour."

"Honour? What sort of honour do you speak of?"

"Honour amongst thieves. Once a thief always a thief Mercury. Even your callsign reflects your past. You can't run from it Mercury. Embrace it. Join us again. We could use your strategical genius. I'm sure The Owl would love to have someone to play chess against."

Mercury laughed again, a genuine laugh this time, and moved one of the black knights to check the white king, placing the letter next to the board as he did so. "Who's to say we aren't playing chess already? I accept what you say Eris. You have presented to me the most logical argument that additionally appeals to my own personal beliefs. This entire set-up has been a chess game and you've managed to place me in check and mate. However, I propose that we cripple our mutual enemy before this game is over." He tapped the hologram between two of the floors and it expanded to give Eris a closer view of what filled the gaps in the tower.

Explosives.

"Trinitrotoluene. Approximately 5 kilotons of destructive force packed into this tower. I may have been working for the military but I haven't lost my old friends entirely. Now, let's get the fuck out of here before that bitch turns up." He turned towards a bookcase that filled an entire side of the room, pulling a specific book and jumped through the gap that appeared as it descended into the floor. Eris swiftly followed, just as he heard Medea landing in the lift behind him.

He began to climb the cast iron stairs towards the roof until he felt a stabbing pain in his calf. He fell, but Mercury grabbed him and hauled him the rest of the yards up the stairs, before jabbing a needle into his neck. Eris felt a surge of energy and the pain lessened, allowing him to continue on his own.

Atop the roof sat a helicopter, which shifted slightly more as they got closer to it. By now it was balanced precariously near the edge of the building, causing the two of them to rush towards it even faster. As they ran Mercury shouted across to Eris over the crackling of flames far below.

"You can fly this thing right? Because I can't!"

"Fuck no! Aviation is the one thing I can't do! But it looks like I'm going to have to learn!"

They clambered into the helicopter and Eris attempted to absorb the sheer number of buttons and switches surrounding him. He flicked switches at random until he heard the rotors start to spin. Then he grabbed the cyclic control, being the only thing that seemed to make any sense, and held it steady as the helicopter started to lift off of the roof. He looked out of the side and saw Medea charging towards them.

He ignored her for the moment, focusing instead on keeping the chopper steady. He felt it lurch horribly to the right, fighting to right its alignment. He pushed the cyclic forwards and felt the chopper tilt in that direction, ploughing through the air away from the tower. After a minute of steady flight Mercury produced a detonator from his pocket and pulled the trigger. The sound of the explosion behind them was immense, the shockwave even more so. It was so powerful it swatted the helicopter out of the sky, and Eris' lack of experience meant he had no hope of saving it in this situation. Instead he simply held on as tight as he could as he watched the ground spiral closer, finally coming to a stop after tearing through a couple of buildings with the rotors.

Amazingly still awake, Eris clambered out of the mangled cockpit and was shocked to see Medea passed out on the floor a few yards away. Mercury felt the same thing, but chose to ignore it entirely as he staggered over towards Eris.

"As fun as that was, I propose that we not attempt it again. Now, let us go see The Council. I have been saddened by the loss of my chess game and wish to start a fresh one as soon as possible" Mercury said as they walked further from the crash site. Eris grinned and handed him a piece of paper, which happened to be his letter from earlier.

"But, how?"

"Once a thief always a thief Mercury. I grabbed it before I left. Felt like you might have wanted to keep it around" Eris replied.

Mercury just shook his head and grabbed the letter from the boy as they continued to walk towards the chasm and ultimately The Council.

"You have done well Eris. You have not only managed to relieve the force of their greatest weapon, you have also crippled them considerably. It will take many seasons for them to rebuild, seasons in which we too will be able to form a force to fight against them. You have earned the respect of all those on this council, and we thus award you with Honorary Council Member Status. You shall be known as The Cub until you come of age, when you attain full membership status and we will select a new name. The Owl has spoken!"

Eris bowed low to each member of the chamber in turn- or at least to where he thought they were located. "It is a great honour to be given this reward and I humbly accept it with thanks. As per the terms of my contract with The Council, now that I have returned from my mission successful I shall also be taking Soul Eater back. The Cub has spoken" he finished in the respectful tradition of The Council.

The Snake spoke next. "Those were indeed the terms of your contract. However, it is believed that you had outside help in completing your mission. What say you to these claims?"

"I do not refute the claims, but also make clear that the only criterion for my contract was that I complete the mission. It mattered not if I had outside help, only that I finished what others could not. Since I have attained those goals as recognised by the rest of The Council I state that my sword should be returned to me post-haste, lest I challenge The Snake to single combat to the death for attempting to sway Council matters in his favour."

Despite his mocking of Eris at their last meeting, it was now Wolf who was impressed the most by him. "You've got guts Cub, I'll give you that. And from what we've seen today you've got the stones and the skills to back them up. Given that you just ran verbal rings around Snake I'm starting to like you even more. Maybe when you're older you can take me on, see where you're strengths really lie."

"Gentlemen" The Owl said in his slow, calculating manner "We have already rewarded The Cub enough for his achievements this day. Perhaps if he were to complete additional missions for us we could congratulate him further, but now I sense that his only wish is to retrieve his preferred weapon and leave us. I myself have a chess game to attend to shortly. This meeting is concluded. The Owl has spoken!"

With those words the glass case rose from the floor for a second time, the front of it sliding open to allow Eris to retrieve his sword. He bowed low once again to the occupants of the chamber before turning and walking out of the darkened room into the bright dusk sun, the smoke on the horizon slowly fading out of existence as the sun neared the border between land and sky.


End file.
